A Stroke of Luck and a Little Love
by MaddieTheAwesomeUnicorn17
Summary: AU. She survived because of a stroke of luck, and a little love. That fact has kept her from going crazy after her games, but will it be enough during the chaos of the war? Can the "Star crossed Lovers of District Four" survive the revolution and have the happy ending they deserve? Based on the thought of what if Annie didn't go crazy.
1. Annie

Annie Cresta-Reaping of the 70th Hunger games

I woke up that morning the way I woke up every morning, with no recollection of my dreams. I remembered what day it was and decided to find Finnick. As I walked the path into Victor's Village, I had this feeling, the feeling that something was different today. I decided that it was nothing and I dismissed it; today was the reaping after all. I walked up to Finnick's door and rang the bell, he answered almost immediately. "Hey! What are you doing up this early?" I suddenly realized it was only 7 am "I couldn't sleep." He simply smiles "Come in" He turns around and walks into his kitchen, and I follow.

We sit down across from one another and Finnick passes me a mug of hot chocolate. After four years I still cannot believe how good hot chocolate is. We sit and drink in silence. Soon it is 9, and we have to go to the reaping. I hate this time of the year, Finnick being gone makes watching the games even harder than they were before he was reaped.

In 4 there is no fear of being reaped, there is always a volunteer to take your place if you're called, so nobody really cares, and the poorer children take out tessare as much as they need. When we arrive, Finnick gives me a quick hug before heading up to the reaping stage. I take my place among the other 18 year-olds. I think about all of the children in the outer districts who are always so nervous on this day, if they are called, nobody takes their place, and if they enter the games, they aren't trained on how to kill the other tributes. Our smiling capitol escort climbs the stage, and there is a spatter of applause, this is the woman that takes our tributes to glory each and every year. She smiles wider and puts a handout, calling for silence. She speaks into the mic, "a special presentation, straight from the Capitol!" The video plays, and afterward, she smiles again and walks over to the bowl "Ladies First!" She reaches in, pulls out a slip and reads aloud "Annie Cresta" I am caught by surprise, but I walk to the stage quickly. I look at Finnick, and he looks a little worried, even though a volunteer will come forth soon enough. "Any Volunteers?" I look in the front row, one of my friends from school, Ariel, has a worried look on her face, but nobody comes forward. I look out and just stand there, in shock. The escort, taken aback walks over to the boy's bowl and pulls out a slip "Conner B-" A well-built kid from the 18-year-old section steps forward and yells "I volunteer!" The escort welcomes him and asks his name "Mason Coy" He states with obvious pride in his voice. We shake hands, and soon we are off to the Justice building. I sit in the velvet room and try to process exactly what just happened to me. Suddenly my friend bursts in "Oh, Annie! I'm so sorry, I had no idea it would be you!" She gives me the tightest hug I have ever received, I pull her away from me and look her in the eyes "What are you talking about?" She pulls me once again and rattles on "I was bribed, by your partner's father, to not volunteer. He wanted his son to have better chances of winning, so he paid me a lot of money to not volunteer, I took it, and he said that if I volunteered anyway, he would disgrace my whole family, and we would lose all of our honor!" She collapses further into my shoulder and sobs harder.

On the car ride to the train, I think. I knew my partner's father, he was the head peacekeeper in 4, and he had close connections with President Snow. At first, I thought about what if they rigged it, so I had to go into the games, but then again why would they want me dead? I have done nothing against the Capitol, so that didn't make any sense. When we arrive at the station, Finnick runs at me from the platform and wraps me in a tighter hug than Ariel had. "I'm so sorry Annie, I'm so sorry." I look at him, "this isn't your fault Finnick, how could this possibly be your fault?" He looks at me with a sad look in his eyes, like he wants to tell me something, but he doesn't. We board the train, and I get a good look at my partner. He's tall and has the muscular build careers cherish. His eyes are an unforgiving icy blue. He looks back at me, sizing me up. I know he's unimpressed, I'm short, with a slight build. And my red hair and my soft green eyes only add to my weak appearance. He grunts and walks away, he thinks that I'm no competition, and he's right, I wouldn't hurt anybody, much less kill.

At dinner, Finnick tells the other mentor that he will be my primary mentor, my mentor, Mags, looks at him with a sad look in her eyes and puts a hand on my partner's shoulder as she nods. I'm slightly confused as to what she means, but Finnick seems to understand, and they go back to eating. After dinner we sit on a velvet couch, I curled up next to Finnick and my partner sitting on one side, with Mags on the other. "Strategy, let's hear ideas" Finnick looks at me like I can come up with a way to survive, to win. The boy shrugs "I don't know, I'll probably join up with the other careers, and we can talk strategy then." Finnick's eyes flash with a mischievous look "Ok, so tomorrow you guys will figure out your strategy with the other careers, sounds good." My partner is completely taken aback "No I will talk strategy with the careers, and she can figure out how to survive until we find her." Finnick looks at him, incredulous "So you will abandon your district partner just because she didn't get the standard training you got?" Me and Mags exchange a look, a look that agrees to let the men figure this out. "Are you kidding? Looks at her, she just a small child, she can't win, she will be lucky if she makes it out of the bloodbath. Much less make it to the final 6." Finnick is clearly upset, and I chose to step in "Do you even know how old I am?" He gives a blank stare "Your like 15 right?" I laugh, guess I'm smaller than I thought "No, I'm 18, just like you are, and I have been with Finnick since we were 12, I picked up some things along the way." At this, he is totally caught off guard "So you guys are together, like together, together?" I look at Finnick, we had never made it official, but why not now, especially when it can save my life? He gives a small nod "Of course we are together, and I'm going to win these games, no matter if I'm in the career alliance or not." My partner shakes his head, and gets up and walks to his room. I look at Finnick "Goodnight."

I wake up in the middle of the night, and I remember my nightmare, I remember Mason standing over me, knife in hand smiling wickedly and me waking up right before he killed me. I lay back down and try to get more sleep, but sleep never comes.


	2. Finnick

A/N: I update at random times, it just depends on how much free time I get, I will try to update at least once every week, PM me if you have any questions about the story or even the canon story. Please Review! I appreciate any constructive criticism that you guys can give me and a compliment is good too! The idea of this story is that what if Annie and Finnick's love was stronger, and if love was at the forefront of the rebellion, The idea is cheesy, I know, but I hope you guys like the story!

Finnick Odair 1st training day of the 70th Hunger games

I still can't believe Annie got reaped, but I know it was my fault. I told president Snow no once, and he sends the only person I love into the games. I have to get her out. She has to win; I can't lose her. I try everything I can to convince people to sponsor her, including mentioning the fact she is my girlfriend over and over. I know the more money I have to spend on her the worse the rest of her life will be, but I don't care, we can deal with this together, as long as she makes it out alive.

At lunch I travel to sit with Annie in the tributes center, when I get there I find Annie sitting and talking to the careers. I walk over "Hey sweetie" I give a quick peck on the cheek, so they know exactly why I'm here. "How's everything going?" Annie looks around at the other careers; the boys are looking at me and trying to tell if I'm playing a joke, and the girls look like they might ask for my autograph "Pretty good, we were just planning on where to meet after the bloodbath." She gives them a pointed look; I can tell they were still on the fence about whether Annie was in the alliance or not. "Yeah, so when the bloodbath starts, Annie runs in throws us our weapons, so we can go and kill other tributes that are running away from the cornucopia. Then we return sometime before sunset, and we can all divvy up the food based on our sizes and what our jobs will be so that none of us lose any weight." Mason looks around at the others, and glares at the girls, not wanting this to be any more awkward. The girl from one snaps out of it and slaps the other girl on the elbow. "Um, yeah sounds good, so Annie guards while the rest of us go and hunt, right?" I look over at Annie to make sure she is Ok with this, and she looks grateful that she gets to guard. "Great, sounds like you guys got this all figured out, I see you all around."

Later that night at training, Mason is not happy "What the hell man?" I look at him, trying to act confused. "What?" His nostrils flare, and I almost laugh. "You interrupted our lunch; we were doing just fine without you. Afterward, all the girls could talk about was how cute you were, and how lucky Annie is to have snagged you!" Annie gives him a questioning look. "Thank you, Finnick. Without you, he would have gotten me kicked out of the alliance; he was even implying that they should hunt me down first." I look at Mason, who looks embarrassed at this. "So even after you agreed to let her into the alliance, you tried to get her kicked out, and you tried to hunt her down first?" I cannot believe this, the betrayal behind his actions is enough to make me want to kill him right here and now, but Annie steps in "It's ok, in training I was able to perform well enough with some of the weapons for them to consider me. And I pointed out to them that being from 4 makes me a career, that it's not about the training." I look at Mason, who looks like he almost regrets his actions. "Alright then, as long as your in the alliance. Now off to bed you two, tomorrow is a big day."

Later that night I am haunted by the same nightmares about my games, but instead of killing Mary, the girl from my district, I am stabbing Annie. All the while Annie is telling me "It's not your fault Finnick, simply bad luck."


	3. Annie-Interview Night

Annie Cresta- Interview night of the 70th Hunger games

Over the past week, I have made one enemy and four friends, all of which I will have to trust my life to tomorrow. Finnick keeps blaming himself for me being in the games, and I keep telling him that it was merely bad luck, I don't know what else to say, none of this could be his fault. My interview with Caesar is tonight, and I don't see how I am going to manage this, talking to careers is one thing, but talking to all of Panem is another thing entirely. Finnick keeps telling me to relax, but I just can't. Tonight is crucial to my survival, I can't seem to confident that I'm coming home, then the careers would kill me first, but I can't look like I know I'm going to die, then nobody would sponsor me. I decided to try an avoid talking about my odds of going home, considering I don't have much of a chance.

My stylist dresses me in a sea green dress with blue seashells, my bright red hair is tied up in a fish net, and my shoes are simple light blue flats. "Just relax, no matter what happens tonight I'm going to get you out of that arena alive, I promise." When he hugs me my head comes up right to his chest, he smells of the ocean. "Welcome the lovely Annabeth Cresta!"

I walk onto the stage, and at first, the lights blind me, but when my eyes focus, I want to run back behind the stage, right back into Finnick's arms. I force myself to smile, and I turn towards Caesar, who takes my hand and guides me towards my seat.

"So, Annabeth, how are you tonight?" The use of my full name startles me "Actually, Caesar, it's simply Annie. I'm doing wonderful tonight."

Caesar smiles wider than ever; it is then when I realize that I haven't spoken much, at least not without Finnick in the room. "That's wonderful, Annie." The interview continues; I answer the way Finnick told me to, avoiding the questions I haven't prepared for with a simple laugh and a quick change of the subject. But the problem I wasn't prepared for comes.

"So Annie, what were you thinking when they called your name?"

I look at him and think about what I should say; I decide to be honest. "Well, Caesar, my immediate thought was that somebody would volunteer." Caesar, being Caesar has to know more. "And when nobody did?" I couldn't be entirely honest here. "Well, it didn't register until I was on the train, and when it did register all I could think of was how I could team up with the Careers, and how to bring honor to my district the way any other tribute would in my place." That was not the truth, all I could think of at that moment was how to die without much pain.

"So, Annie, does it worry you, to be up against five careers?" I decide to wing this one, instead of going with the prepared, 'I can win this' Finnick told me to use "Well, Caesar, it does not matter what kind of training you get before the games, it matters where you come from, and Caesar I come from 4, the best district." Caesar laughs "And Annie before we run out of time, What do you think the audience thinks about you?" Honesty is the best policy, I guess. "I think they feel bad for me, they feel bad for me because nobody volunteered but they shouldn't, I don't have to be a career to win these games, I am going to win." At that, the buzzer sounds. "Well, it looks like we are out of time." Caesar guides me off stage, and as soon as I am out of view from the audience, I run straight into Finnick's arms.

"You did amazing; everybody will be sponsoring you this year." But sponsors won't win against the careers. I need to fight to win, and I don't want to fight.

Mason's interview is the basic career interview, him going on about honoring his district, Caesar mentioning his score of 8, Mason blowing a kiss to his girlfriend back home. With a score of 6, I am nothing special, but I'm not counting on skills to win this, I need luck on my side.

When I get back to our floor, I undress and dress into a simple blue blouse and black pants. I sit beside Finnick, and we eat dinner in silence until Mason speaks. "Nice touch, saying 4 is the best District, you made all of the others mad, in fact, the girl from 2 is already planning on how to kill you, it's not going to be pretty." Finnick goes pale at the thought of me dying and Mason looks smug at this. "So did you make that up, or did you exaggerate? If you're trying to scare me, it's not working." Mason looks at me completely taken aback, and embarrassed that I figured him out. The look on Finnick's face changes from worry to anger. I put my hand on his arm, silently pleading for him to let it go.

"Alright then, well go to bed, and get plenty of sleep. You're going to need it for tomorrow." Mason looks insulted "We aren't going to need sleep, we will have all of the supplies, I bet that by tomorrow there will only be eight tributes left, and if I have my way Annie here won't be one of them." Finnick's anger skyrockets at this, and I have to grab his arm to keep him from lunging at Mason. "What do you know? You are just the typical career punk, wanting nothing but to win, but a true career sticks with their district, they stick with their partner until it comes down to just the two of them. What Annie said is what all careers are supposed to live by, all careers are supposed to want glory for their districts, not for themselves." Mags gets up and tries to guide Mason out of the room gently, but he jerks around and slaps her across the face, not hard but enough to send the feeble woman toppling over. Finnick is furious now; Mags has been the only one to understand him the past four years and Mason has just disrespected her after she tried to help him. I grab Finnick's arm "Finnick, don't." I move to help Mags up. "Call for a medic, I don't think it's bad, but we need to be safe."

I sit Mags down in a chair and check her body for signs of broken bones.

"Why do you bother? She's almost dead anyway. I turn around and glare at him "Why do we bother helping you? You're almost dead anyway. We all know the only reason you hate me is that even a new tribute has a higher chance of winning the hunger games than you."

My words are full of venom and intended to hurt, and it's clear they do, even though he tries to hide it. I want to say sorry, to explain that I didn't mean it that way, but he would only see me as weak, so I turn back to Mags. At that moment Finnick comes back with the medic, and Mason leaves. Finnick comes and helps Mags up, and I step back to the medic can examine her.

"She looks fine, nothing major, maybe a couple of bruises."

The medic leaves, and Finnick helps Mags to her room. When he comes back, I hug him and head off to bed. I try to sleep, but nightmares haunt me, but this time I am the one killing Mason.


	4. Mason

A/N Yay! Second update today! This one is short, from Mason's point of view. Enjoy!

Mason Coy- Hovercraft ride

When I board the hovercraft, my mind is somewhere else. My mind is still trying to process what happened last night. I keep thinking about what Annie said. As the tracker gets injected into my arm, I realized that if Finnick had a choice as to who came out of the games, he would choose Annie in a heartbeat. This means that when the alliance splits up, he will do everything he can to make sure Annie survives, which means no sponsor gifts for me. I decided that I will have to kill Annie first, to ensure that I will get the supplies I need to survive if it should come to that.

My final dressing room is a small room with steel walls. I sit down on the table and eat the sandwich and apple they have sitting out for me; I will need plenty of energy if I am going to be hunting tributes all day.

My stylist enters and hands me a simple black outfit. "Prepare for hot days and wet nights." is all he says before leaving.

I dress and step into the glass tube that will carry me to glory. The metal floor begins to rise, and I position myself in a running position.

The Hunger Games are about to begin


	5. Annie-Hovercraft Ride

A/N: Another short one, hoping to update again today, but who knows what I will do. I said before, don't count on me to update regularly. I have a lot of free time, but sometimes my computer dies or I have school work to do that gets in my way, hope you all enjoy the story! This chapter takes place at the same time as the last one, but is from Annie POV. Please review!

Annie Cresta-Hovercraft ride

As I begin to step towards the hovercraft Finnick pulls me into a hug. Then it hits me, this could be the last time we ever see each other. I begin to panic and Finnick just strokes my hair and whispers "It's ok, show them what you're made of. No matter what happens in there I will always love you." I pull away from him and wipe my tears away. I give him one last kiss on the cheek before I walk towards the hovercraft.

When I'm inside a lady in white scrubs injects my tracker into my arm and I sit down. The trip isn't very long, only about 20 minutes.

The dressing room is small, and I begin to panic once more, I nervously nibble on the sandwich, but I can't eat much. I calm myself and soon my stylist enters, she hands me my outfit and leaves. I dress and step into the glass tube. As the tube rises I struggle to keep my breathing steady.

The countdown begins and, well this is it.

The Hunger Games have begun.


	6. Annie-Bloodbath

A/N, Please review, feedback means a lot to me.

Annie Cresta-Bloodbath

When the countdown hits zero I bolt towards the cornucopia as planned. I get there, grab the weapons my team members will use. I turn around, and Mason is right behind me. I grab the blade of his sword and try to hand it to him handle towards him. He grabs the handle and tries to shove the sword into my stomach. I tighten my grip and give him a death glare.

"Next time you try something I will tell the others, they won't take the betrayal lightly."

I shove the sword handle into his stomach and turn to toss the boy from 2 his ax. Mason walks away, and I look at the cuts on my hand. They hurt, but not much, I toss the girl from 2 her spear and the two from 1 their swords.

By now the bloodbath is over, and the Careers are heading out to hunt down the rest of the outer-district tributes. I take the time I have to wrap my hand and scan the arena.

The cornucopia is in the middle of a meadow, with jungle around it. I look up and read the sun. It's about 2 pm. The careers will be back around dark, so going on capitol time I have about 6 hours. I sit at the edge of the cornucopia and wait. I think about Finnick. What is he thinking right now? Is he proud of me for surviving? Is he angry at Mason for trying to kill me so early? A cannon goes off in the distance; the careers have found their first victim. An hour so later I hear a scream, soon followed by a cannon.

When it begins to get dark, the careers come back. We sit down and divide the rations; I get the least because I guard and don't use the most energy, and I am the smallest. I take first watch, and the rest find places to sleep, the girl from 1 takes second, and Mason volunteers for third. I stay awake for a couple of hours before waking the girl from 1.

I sleep, but my sleep is riddled with nightmares. I wake up to Mason leaning over me, holding a knife. I give him a look and sit up,

"Do you want me to scream, they will kill first and ask questions later, you know that, so do you want to risk it?"

He gives me a glare and grumbles "Fine, your safe, for now anyway, so go back to sleep."

"I'd rather not." We sit on opposite sides of the cornucopia until sunrise, then we wake up the others and have breakfast. Then they are on their way, and I am alone once more. I look up to the sky, and memories of Finnick flood my mind. Tears stream down my face, and for hours I sit in silence. Finally, I speak "I promise, Finnick, I am going to come home, no matter what it takes." I sit in silence for the rest of the time, thinking. Ten tributes died during the bloodbath, two yesterday, and five have been killed already today, there are seven tributes left: the careers and one more outer district tribute.

When the careers return, they are ecstatic. "One more of them left, and then it begins!"

I offer to take first watch again, but the boy from 1, the boy from 2 and the girl from 2 offer, since they didn't take watch yesterday.

"We won't be in here another night, might as well make it fair."

I sleep, and when I wake, the girl from 2 is shaking me. "Hey, wanna make a deal." She has a grin on her face that tells me she isn't talking about trading rations. "Tomorrow, when we kill the last girl, you run away, go to the east, and I will lead them there, then I kill them when their guards are down, then we can have a one on one battle. A fair fight to the death." I think this would mean I get to survive to the final two. But even if I win, the win won't be very honorable. I decide to play this by my gut. "Ok, I'll do it" I don't mean it, but it's best if she thinks I do.


	7. Annie-Finale

A/N, Now it gets good! I might publish in a different story this from Finnick's point of view.

Annie-The Finale

They leave for the day after breakfast, and I sit and wait. Around noon a cannon goes off. I stay in my spot on the ground, about a half an hour later I see them emerge from the tree line.

"I bet she's not even there anymore; she probably thinks we will kill her first." The girl from 2 is saying to the other tributes. Mason looks and sees me first. He smirks and bolts towards me. Before I can react, he has me pinned against the cornucopia, with his sword to my chest.

Despite my panic, my voice comes cool and confident. "Go ahead, kill me. Then you can deal with the rest of the careers, be the next one dead." He tries to hide it, but he knows that he will be the next one dead, especially if he kills me. Instead of being hurt and backs off, he gets angry and stabs my right shoulder, pinning me against the cornucopia.

I want to cry out, but I don't. I fight to keep my face even. "So what, kill me I don't care at least I have been honorable, unlike her." I point my left index finger at the girl from 2. Her face is full of mock confusion.

"Don't act surprised, tell them about your little deal last night." She's acting surprised, but I can tell she is angry, but hiding it well.

"Remember, you told me to run away, then while you guys were searching for me you would kill them behind their backs. What was it you promised me? A fair fight? That's pretty generous, considering you weren't planning on giving them one. Maybe you think you couldn't win against them, but you seemed pretty confident you could kill me."

Now all of the other's anger is directed towards her, and she looks desperate. "Come on guys, would I do that?"

They aren't convinced. "Emma, that's exactly the kind of thing you would do." Her district partner has he backed up against a stack of crates. "You know you can't win in physical strength, so you try to outsmart us. Well, your plan backfired, didn't it?" Before she can answer, he stabs her with a knife, and a cannon echoed through the arena.

I go pale; I just got her killed. My head spins, a mix of emotions swim through my head; guilt, anger, relief, and even more guilt.

Mason's voice snaps me out of it. "Now that we have one traitor out of the way, what do we want to do with the other?" He jerks a thumb towards me. "How am I a traitor? You were the one who tried to kill me in the bloodbath, and again during your watch the first night. That seems pretty traitorous to me." His anger boils, and he shouts "You aren't even a career, you're a traitor to the entire tradition!" Despite the panic and pain spreading through my arm and chest I stay cool "Now, now, just because you feel threatened by an untrained tribute doesn't mean you can go around calling people names." I say in my best Mom voice.

He is indignant. "I do not feel threatened by you!" He's screaming at the top of his lungs by now.

The boy from 2 steps toward Mason and taps him on the shoulder. "Hey, maybe you should stop screaming, and from my perspective, it looks like you feel threatened."

I smirk, "So can you get this thing out of my arm? It's kinda annoying." They ignore me a Mason yells at the boy from 2. "How about you shut up? I can deal with her all by myself." He says her like he's talking about some little kid. Now I raise my voice. "Then why don't you kill me? You seem pretty hesitant; maybe you don't have it in you."

Mason turns and growls, "Maybe I'm trying to decide how you're going to die. There are a lot of ways to make your death gruesome and entertaining." I go visibly pale, and Mason smirks. The girl from 1 steps forward. "Who says you get to kill her? I was kinda hoping I would get to do it so that I can gloat to Finnick." Now her district partner is mad. "Yeah, well who says your gonna be alive to gloat to Finnick about anything?"

They are all arguing, and I can barely stay conscious. My head is spinning from the loss of blood. "Alright, let's just have one big battle, melee style, and whoever is the last one standing gets to kill her." I slump against the cornucopia, barely able to remain upright. Mason walks over, and for a second I think he's going to kill me, but he takes his sword and walks towards the rest. I slump down into a sitting position.

They form a circle outside the arena, and the girl from one counts down "3, 2, 1, GO!"

They two from 1 lunge at each other and Mason lunges at the boy from two. Mason tries to stab two in the heart, but he blocks it with his ax handle and, in on the swift movement, chops Mason's head off. The head lands near my feet, and I feel all of the blood drain from my face.

A/N, Hope you all like it! Next chapter is this chapter from Finnick's point of view.


	8. Finnick-Finale

A/N, some people have requested to see how Finnick feels about all of this. So here we go, an entire chapter dedicated to Finnick. Did I leave the other chapter on a cliff hanger to do this? Oh sorry about that. *Maniacal laughter*

Review! It means alot to me, and I try to respond and answer any questions you guys have.

Finnick-Finale

The games go according to planned, at least until the final 7. The girl from 2 comes up with this plan to get Annie to the final 2, and I couldn't be more happy. She has a chance against one career, but none against all five, especially with Mason trying to kill her already. The next morning comes, but when the cannon goes off she doesn't move.

Mason stabs her shoulder, but she somehow remains calm. The entire time I keep an eye on her vitals. If none of the careers kill her, and the sword stays in place she can live 2 hours at least, maybe more. When the girl from 2 dies I can tell she is not ready to face the thought of other dying.

With the girl from 2 out of the way, Mason turns back to Annie. Calling her a traitor clearly gets to her. I already don't like Mason, and now he is close to killing her. They argue, and the others look ready to kill both of them. They boy from 2, Mason's friend, steps forward and tries to calm Mason, but Mason is passed being calmed. Annie speaks up again and, this time she taunts him, she know that if she gets him angry enough the others will kill him, but he shuts her up by talking about all of the gruesome deaths careers have given their partners in the past. It gets to her, and she gets paler.

My face must be deathly pale by now, because Mags grabs my shoulder and pulls me into a chair, and hands me a glass of water. I smile and thank her, and when I turn my head back to the screen the others are arguing about who gets to kill Annie. This couldn't be worse. They decide to settle it traditionally, with a fight to the death. Mason, who was quiet the entire argument, walks over to Annie and looms over her for a second. She looks terrified and I can tell the same thing is going through both of our heads; he's going to kill her right now, no matter what the others think. But he smirks and rips the sword from her arm before returning to the others.

The fight begins,Mason goes for the boy from two and the two from one fight. Mason lunges for the boy from two, but he deflects the attack easily, leaving him defenseless. Two's ax cuts Mason's head clean off, and the head lands by Annie's feet. She goes even paler. The two from one are still fighting and two heads towards them, intending to kill them quickly and get to Annie before she dies of blood loss.

Before he can even walk over to the pair, the arena begins to fill with water. It's filling so quickly the water is up to their ankles before they can react. The others run to the jungle, hoping to climb a tree before the water rises to much.

Annie struggles to her feet and grabs a bandage from a nearby crate. She quickly bandages her shoulder and holds her breath. The camera catches her again when she comes up near the forest, she grabs a tree branch and pulls herself up. She slips and falls into the water, taking the tree branch down with her.

A/N, BTW, a lot of you have probably come to the conclusion that Annie survives, but I never said that, I only said that Annie and Finnick's love impacts the rebellion. So, yeah don't jump to conclusions.


	9. Annie-Finale part 2

Annie-Finale Part 2

When the water floods in I get up and wrap my shoulder. By the time I wrap it the water is already to my shoulders, so I hold my breath and dive under. Swimming with my hurt shoulder is difficult to say the least, but I manage to make it to the jungle edge and I grab ahold of a large, high hanging branch, but I slip and fall down into the water.

I hit the ground and the branch falls on top of me. I smack the branch with my left arm, trying to break it, but it won't break. The branch shifts and lands on my chest. I can't breath. My head swims, and I give the branch one last hit, it's a good thing water weakens wood, because I didn't have the strength to break the wood otherwise.

I shove the branch off of me and swim upwards. I swim as quickly as I can, but the water has risen fast, and just as lose consciousness I hear two cannon fade through the water.

A/N, A short chapter I know, but it's my third today, so cut me a break.

Review! It means a lot!


	10. Annie- Capitol Hospital

A/N, I know a lot of you complain about the lack of details but I really try, that's just the way I write.I'm trying to improve. The games were not very long, they took 3 days. I did this because the arena was mostly an open meadow, with a line of trees around the edge. The outer-district tributes couldn't hide from the careers, like they could in the woods from Katniss's games. In canon there was a lot of days with no deaths. Katniss kept saying the gamemakers wouldn't be happy about that. I took this to mean they were used to quick games, so the weeks it took for Katniss's games were abnormal and boring to the audience. Capitolites want quick deaths and drama. Lucy, the careers don't want Mason to kill Annie early because it is tradition for all of the careers to survive to the final six and for them to have a melee battle at the end, or at least in my story it is. Please review! I honestly love responding to your guys' feedback and the criticism help me a lot! All of the tips you guys are giving me are amazing!

Annie- Interview Night.

I wake up before Finnick. I get up and go to the dining room. Breakfast is already sitting out. I grab a mug of hot chocolate and sit on the plush couch. He comes out an hour later.

"You doing ok?" I scoot over so he can sit on the couch.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine." He sits down and wraps an arm around my shoulder, I lay my head on his shoulder.

"Are you going to get something to eat? Just hot cocoa won't keep you going."

I shrug "I'm not really in the mood to eat." He sighs as he stands up and leaves. Soon he comes back and hands me a plate of my favorites; cinnamon rolls, danishes and all sorts of fruits. "Thank you, but I don't think I can eat all of this."

He smiles, "Who said this is for you?" He takes it back and sits on the couch in front of me as he eats a danish.

"Fine then, I'll get myself food." I get up and grab a plate of his favorites; eggs, sausages and pancakes. I sit in front of him and bite into a pancake. "Yum" I say, taunting him.

"You win." He says in mock sadness as he gets up and sits beside me, swapping plates. We sit closer together and eat in silence.

We spend most of the day on the couch, simply enjoying each other's company. We don't speak much, simply being next to Finnick is enough to calm my nerves.

But the time comes when I need to get ready for my interview, no matter how much I try to avoid it. I leave to meet my stylist, bracing myself for the interview. My stylist dresses me in a coral dress, with blue flats and he styles my hair with seashells that match my dress.

As I stand backstage I think about Finnick's interview with Caesar. He was still in shock from what happened in his games. The entire he was pale, and quiet as a mouse. Caesar had to repeat what he said each time. I remember sitting at home, completely in shock at how scared Finnick had seemed. We've known each other since the age of ten, and neither before nor after that had Finnick seemed so afraid. He has always been the type of guy that seems fearless, even during the games. But, considering what he did during the games, I can understand his reaction, it's a miracle he got over it, or at least can seem like he did.

His games went pretty much the same as mine, up to the final six. His arena was a rocky, mountain like terrain, the games lasted a week. The entire time he stayed at the peak, with the cornucopia and guarded. But when the final six came, he bolted. He grabbed all of the things he could and ran down the mountain, into hiding. When the careers returned to the camp they were furious. He had taken almost all of the food. Not because he wanted it, but because it meant they wouldn't get any. He also took all of the knives, leaving only a few blunt swords. They set off to find him immediately, searching almost the entire arena. But they never found him, because he was following them the entire time, watching waiting. A few times he took a knife in his hand, aiming to throw it, but decided against it each time.

After about three days of this Finnick got a parachute, it was much larger than any other parachute I had ever seen in the games. It held a Trident, made of gold. Finnick took it and tied it to his back with some rope. The next day, he snuck up on the career group when they were fighting and took a knife in hand, aiming it carefully at the girl from 1. He throws, but misses. The knife lands with a clatter, then there is silence. The careers scan the area and quickly find Finnick. The boy from two lunges at him, fury ablaze in his eyes. I thought he was going to kill Finnick, but Finnick pulls out the trident and stabs the boy square in the chest, killing instantly. A moment of stunned shock as Finnick pulls the trident from the boy's chest. The girl from two screams and lunge at him, trying to catch him by surprise, but almost instinctively, Finnick stabs her to. Throwing caution to the wind, he lunges at his district partner, killing her. He heads for the two from one and kills them the same way. Then he turns and looks at the bodies.

The look of absolute fear he had on his face is burned into my mind forever. The worst part is that he wasn't scared of anything around him; he was scared of himself. The hovercraft picks him up and it took a whole week before he had his replay. I seriously thought he killed himself in the hospital. But he came on T.V., during his replays I was working in the fish net shop, all Ariel told me was that during his battle with the careers he hid and curled up, clearly terrified. I requested the day off for the next day and watched his interview.

I'm snapped out of my shock when Caesar calls my name. I walk on to the stage, smiling and waving.

"So, Annie, how are you feeling right now?"

I smile wider, "Well Caesar, I feel wonderful." A total lie, I want to scream right now, but the audience loved it, so I guess I answered well.

"That's wonderful, Annie. Let me ask you another question, what was your proudest moment during the games?" My answer comes without much thought.

"Honestly, I would say when I stopped Mason from killing me."

He laughs "You were very brave." The interview continues on, him asking the normal questions for a victor. I'm relieved when he asks the final question, it's a question he asks every victor.

"So, Annie who's your favorite Victor?"

I laugh, "Caesar, that's an easy one, Finnick Odair. Without a doubt." He laughs to, "Of course, I think we all knew that. That's all for tonight, Goodnight everybody."

The lights go out and I sit there, stunned that I did it. I sit there until Finnick comes from backstage.

"Hey, you did amazing."

I smile "Thanks, I can't believe I did it." I get up and walk with Finnick back to the tribute center.

"Tomorrow morning we will get on the train to head , the rest of your life begins, your life as a victor." He says as we walk.

"Home." I say, the word almost alien on my tongue. I haven't felt a place like home since my mother died.

My father died when I was little, in a fishing boat accident. I don't remember him much, but my mother really missed him. My mother ran the fishing net shop in town, she never had to go out on a boat in her life. I spent most of my childhood in the back of my mom's shop, tying knots and making nets with my mom. The year after Finnick won his games, my mom's shop burnt down, with my mom inside it. I was at school at the time, I usually skipped school, but business was slow that day, and my mom insisted I go to school.

I think back to that day. I was walking home from school like normal. When I turned onto the street I saw the shop, burnt to the ground. Finnick was sitting on the street corner, sobbing. I ran up to him and hugged him.

"What's wrong?" He looked at me like I was a ghost. He hugged me and sobbed into my shoulder.

"I thought you were dead, Annie. I thought you were dead." I squeezed him tighter.

"It's ok, I'm alive." We sat there for awhile before we spoke again.

"Your mother, she was in the building. They found her wedding ring in the ash." I sat there stunned, it was a few minutes before the tears flowed, and it was his turn to hold me as I sobbed.

We reach the tribute center and go to bed. I sleep in his bed again, and when I wake from nightmares he is there to hold me and make it better.

A/N, Sorry, this update took awhile, and it's kinda late. It's been a really long couple of weeks. I tried to put more detail into this one, review and tell me what you think! I'll try to post the next one soon, but with the holidays I don't know if I can.


	11. Interview Night-Annie

A/N, I know a lot of you complain about the lack of details but I try, that's just the way I write. The games were not very long; they took two days. I did this because the arena was mostly an open meadow, with a line of trees around the edge. The outer-district tributes couldn't hide from the careers like they could in the woods from Katniss's games. In canon, there was a lot of days with no deaths. Katniss kept saying the game makers wouldn't be happy about that. I took this to mean they were used to quick games, so the weeks it took for Katniss's games were abnormal and boring to the audience. Capitolites want quick deaths and drama. Lucy, the careers don't want Mason to kill Annie early because it is the tradition for all of the careers to survive to the final six and for them to have a melee battle at the end, or at least in my story, it is. Please review! I honestly love responding to your guys' feedback, and the criticism helps me a lot! All of the tips you guys are giving me are amazing!

Annie- Interview Night.

I wake up before Finnick. I get up and go to the dining room. Breakfast is already sitting out. I grab a mug of hot chocolate and sit on the plush couch. He comes out an hour later.

"You doing ok?" I scoot over so he can sit on the couch. "Yeah, I'm doing fine." He sits down and wraps an arm around my shoulder; I lay my head on his shoulder. "Are you going to get something to eat? Just hot cocoa won't keep you going." I shrug "I'm not really in the mood to eat." He sighs as he stands up and leaves. Soon he comes back and hands me a plate of my favorites; cinnamon rolls, danishes and all sorts of fruits. "Thank you, but I don't think I can eat all of this." He smiles, "Who said this is for you?" He takes it back and sits on the couch in front of me as he eats a danish. "Fine then, I'll get myself food." I get up and grab a plate of his favorites; eggs, sausages, and pancakes. I sit in front of him and bite into a pancake. "Yum," I say, taunting him. "You win." He says in mock sadness as he gets up and sits beside me, swapping plates. We sit closer together and eat in silence.

We spend most of the day on the couch, just enjoying each other's company. We don't speak much, merely being next to Finnick is enough to calm my nerves.

But the time comes when I need to get ready for my interview, no matter how much I try to avoid it. I leave to meet my stylist, bracing myself for the interview. My stylist dresses me in a coral dress, with blue flats and he styles my hair with seashells that match my dress.

As I stand backstage, I think about Finnick's interview with Caesar. He was still in shock from what happened in his games. The entire he was pale, and quiet as a mouse. Caesar had to repeat what he said each time. I remember sitting at home, completely in shock at how scared Finnick had seemed. We've known each other since the age of ten, and neither before nor after that had Finnick seemed so afraid. He has always been the type of guy that appears fearless, even during the games. But, considering what he did during the games, I can understand his reaction, it's a miracle he got over it or at least can seem like he did.

His games went pretty much the same as mine, up to the final six. His arena was a rocky, mountain-like terrain; the games lasted a week. The entire time he stayed at the peak, with the cornucopia and guarded. But when the final six came, he bolted. He grabbed all of the things he could and ran down the mountain, into hiding. When the careers returned to the camp, they were furious. He had taken almost all of the food. Not because he wanted it, but because it meant they wouldn't get any. He also took all of the knives, leaving only a few blunt swords. They set off to find him immediately, searching almost the entire arena. But they never saw him, because he was following them the whole time, watching waiting. A few times he took a knife in his hand, aiming to throw it, but decided against it each time.

After about three days of this Finnick got a parachute, it was much larger than any other parachute I had ever seen in the games. It held a Trident, made of gold. Finnick took it and tied it to his back with some rope. The next day, he snuck up on the career group when they were fighting and grabbed a knife in hand, aiming it carefully at the girl from 1. He throws but misses. The blade lands with a clatter, then there is silence. The careers scan the area and quickly find Finnick. The boy from two lunges at him, fury ablaze in his eyes. I thought he was going to kill Finnick, but Finnick pulls out the trident and stabs the boy square in the chest, killing instantly. A moment of stunned shock as Finnick pulls the trident from the boy's chest. The girl from two screams and lunge at him, trying to catch him by surprise, but almost instinctively, Finnick stabs her to. Throwing caution to the wind, he lunges at his district partner, killing her. He heads for the two from one and kills them the same way. Then he turns and looks at the bodies.

The look of absolute fear he had on his face is burned into my mind forever. The worst part is that he wasn't scared of anything around him; he was scared of himself. The hovercraft picks him up, and it took a whole week before he had his replay. I seriously thought he killed himself in the hospital. But he came on T.V., during his replays I was working in the fishnet shop, all Ariel told me was that during his battle with the careers he hid and curled up, clearly terrified. I requested the day off for the next day and watched his interview.

I'm snapped out of my shock when Caesar calls my name. I walk on to the stage, smiling and waving.

"So, Annie, how are you feeling right now?"

I smile wider, "Well Caesar, I feel wonderful." A total lie, I want to scream right now, but the audience loved it, so I guess I answered well. "That's wonderful, Annie. Let me ask you another question, what was your proudest moment during the games?" My answer comes without much thought. "Honestly, I would say when I stopped Mason from killing me." He laughs "You were very brave." The interview continues, him asking the normal questions for a victor. I'm relieved when he asks the final question; it's a question he asks every victor. "So, Annie who's your favorite Victor?" I laugh, "Caesar, that's an easy one, Finnick Odair. Without a doubt." He laughs too, "Of course, I think we all knew that. That's all for tonight, Goodnight everybody."

The lights go out, and I sit there, stunned that I did it. I sit there until Finnick comes from backstage. "Hey, you did amazing." I smile "Thanks; I can't believe I did it." I get up and walk with Finnick back to the tribute center. "Tomorrow morning we will get on the train to head home. Then, the rest of your life begins, your life as a victor." He says as we walk. "Home," I say, the word almost alien on my tongue. I haven't felt a place like home since my mother died.

My father died when I was little, in a fishing boat accident. I don't remember him much, but my mother missed him. My mother ran the fishing net shop in town; she never had to go out on a boat in her life. I spent most of my childhood in the back of my mom's shop, tying knots and making nets with my mom. The year after Finnick won his games, my mom's shop burnt down, with my mom inside it. I was at school at the time, I usually skipped school, but business was slow that day, and my mom insisted I go to school.

I think back to that day. I was walking home from school like normal. When I turned onto the street, I saw the shop, burnt to the ground. Finnick was sitting on the street corner, sobbing. I ran up to him and hugged him. "What's wrong." He looked at me like I was a ghost. He hugged me and sobbed into my shoulder. "I thought you were dead, Annie. I thought you were dead." I squeezed him tighter. "It's ok; I'm alive." We sat there for a while before we spoke again "Your mother, she was in the building. They found her wedding ring in the ash." I sat there stunned, it was a few minutes before the tears flowed, and it was his turn to hold me as I sobbed.

We reach the tribute center and go to bed. I sleep in his bed again, and when I wake from nightmares, he is there to hold me and make it better.

A/N, Sorry, this update took a while, and it's kind of late. It's been a long couple of weeks. I tried to put more detail into this one, review and tell me what you think! I'll try to post the next one soon, but with the holidays I don't know if I can.


	12. Train Ride Home

A/N, A lot of you liked the last chapter! I'm glad my writing is improving! Happy Holidays to everyone! Everyone has given me some excellent tips, and I feel like it's helping! Please review! I agree many of the details I wrote in the author's notes should have been included in the actual story; I'll probably go back and change the chapters to make them more detailed.

Annie-Train Ride

I wake up the next morning and wake Finnick as I'm getting out of bed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

He smiles. "It's ok; I would have had to get up in half an hour anyway."

We get up and eat breakfast. It's quite the entire time. Soon our escort takes us to the train we're headed home. The train ride only takes a couple of hours before we are back.

When we arrive I step onto the platform. The career students and teachers are waiting, and when they see me, they clap. I smile, I know this is tradition, for Victor to be greeted by the students of the academy. I smile and wave at them like a victor is supposed to.

Then, one of the students yell "Four is the best district!" and all of the others cheer. I stand there, in shock. Why would all of these students applaud for something I said?

Then, it hits me. I did everything right. I did the honorable thing the entire time; I didn't even kill another tribute. I stood for what the careers are supposed to stand for. Soon, another realization hits me, I might have done everything honorable, but I only won because of that flood. It was luck that let me win, not skill.

The cheering dies down, and I leave the station with Finnick. We head to Victor's Village. I walk up to the house beside Finnick's and head inside. All of my things are already inside. I don't have much, some clothes, a few sea nets I keep as well as a few other things that remind me of my mother.

"Are you ok?" I turn around to face Finnick.

"Yeah, I'm fine." but I'm not, this all feels wrong, nothing feels right. I don't like this big, empty house. "Do you think I can stay with you? I don't want to be alone in this big of a house."

He smiles, "Of course, Annie you can stay with me. I don't like how big my house is either."

I smile, relieved. "Thank you" I hug him, with my arms around his neck.

He laughs and picks me up. I start laughing too. "Let's get your things to my house, ok?"

I smile "Ok."

He puts me down, and we start gathering my things. Soon we have everything, and we head over to his house. When we get there, we set to put all of my things away.

"Do you wanna stay in the guest bedroom, or do you wanna stay with me?" Finnick asks me when we get to all of my clothes.

"If it's alright with you, I'd like to stay in your room," I answer after a moment of thought.

"Of course it's alright." With that, we bring all of my clothes in his room. When we're done, I decided to start making dinner

"Will you visit Mags and ask if she wants to come over?"

"Yeah, I'll head over to her house."

He comes back with Mags a few minutes later, and I set to making dinner.

As I cook, my thoughts wander.

I think about the day before Finnick's reaping. I was walking on the beach when Finnick comes up to me.

"Annie, I need to tell you something." He says, slightly out of breath from the run from the academy.

"What?" What could be so important that he left the academy to tell me?

"We had the ceremony today, to choose the volunteer for this year." How does this matter? The volunteer is always 18, maybe 17. "I put my name forward."

"What? You put your name forward? What were you thinking?"

"This year I had the required amount of skill in each subject to volunteer, so I put my name forward."

Finnick lost his parents at the age 10. My mother took him in. He joined the academy at the age of 12, with everyone else, but he was the only orphan to join. He made it his goal to become the best career there was, and he was at the top of his class, surpassing even the 16-year-olds. The others hated him. They made fun of him every chance they got. Their taunting only made Finnick more determined to outdo them.

"I know it means a lot for you to win the games, but you can't, not yet. Anyways, it's not like they would choose a fourteen-year-old anyway."

"That's the thing; they did choose me."

"What? Why did they choose you? They never choose a tribute that young."

"It's rare, but a lot of the older students got sick and won't be healthy enough to participate in the games. So I got the spot."

It's too much for me to handle, I can't lose Finnick, I knew there was the possibility of him going into the games, but I didn't think it would be so soon.

"You can't volunteer. You'll never make it. All of the others will have had much more experience. They'll all be eighteen."

"Annie, I'll be fine. I'm going to win."

"And if you don't? How am I supposed to be ok with watching you fight to the death, watching you die?"

He pauses giving it thought. "I'm not asking you to be ok with what I'm doing; I'm asking you to understand why I have to do it."

I know how hard it is for Finnick. All of the other kids make fun of him, I know it hurts. These games are his chance to prove himself. To show that he isn't just a weak orphan.

"Ok. I understand. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything"

"Promise me you will come home."

He smiles. "I promise."

"And know this, no matter what happens in the games, know I will be here, cheering for you the entire time. Waiting for you to come home."

"I know."

I finish making dinner and plate it. I made a simple fish dish, a fried fillet with some store bought fish sauce.

We eat and after dinner Finnick walks Mags home. When he returns we sit on the couch and watch capitol TV. I fall asleep against Finnick, and when I wake, I'm in his bed, shaking from the nightmare I just had.

"It's ok, just another dream." Finnick holds me against him until I'm calm. I fall asleep in his arms.

A/N, Happy Holidays! Please review! The constructive criticism is really helpful!


	13. 74th Hunger Games Reaping

A/N, I'm skipping the years between Annie's games and Cannon. So this chapter starts on the morning of reaping for the 74th hunger games. Enjoy and please review!

74th Hunger Games Reaping-Annie

I wake in the morning to the frequent nightmares, Mason, Emma, my parents, and Finnick's games all mixed in my head creating a reality that comes every time I sleep, no matter how much I try to avoid it. Finnick wakes with me, holding me until my panic subsides and my breathing calms. I know he has nightmares too, though he tries to hide it. He wakes with the same fright on his face. He pushes it away for my sake.

We wake and eat breakfast. I dress in a simple coral dress, and Finnick wears a white T-shirt and jeans. We head to the square. Most of the district has already assembled. We take our places among the other Victors, I stand beside Mags as the names are called and volunteers take their place. The tributes head towards the train station, and we board the train and watch the rest of the reapings. Most of the reapings go as usual, with volunteers from 1 and 2, and 2 twelve-year-olds getting reaped along with a thirteen-year-old.

But the one from twelve caught my attention. A twelve-year-old's name was called. Primrose Everdeen. This caused the crowd to murmur. Then, something shocking happened. A sixteen-year-old came forward and volunteered. Primrose was dragged from the stage by an eighteen-year-old boy. Then, as Katniss spoke her name, it made sense. Primrose was her younger sister. This was rare, to say the least, a volunteer from an outlying district never happens, they don't have the training or even enough food to build any kind of muscle, so they are usually the first to die. They never went into the games willingly, but Katniss volunteered, and from the look on the two sister's faces, neither of them expect her to come back alive.

The boy, however, gave me more of a start. His clothes were well kept, and his skin was void of any coal dust, meaning he was for the wealthier part of the district, while she was from the miner's part, but the look on his face when she was reaped. It was similar to the look on Finnick's face when I was reaped, shocked, and sorrowful. He obviously cared about her, yet when his name was called her face remained blank. He walked up to the stage. They shook hands, her face had stayed a stone mask, while the boy, Peeta, was close to tears.

The broadcasting ended, and we arrived at the capitol. The stylists take the tributes away, and we are left with the horses with the other Mentors.

"I'm going to go talk to Haymitch, see what he thinks of his new tributes, want to come?"

Finnick arches an eyebrow "Since when are you interested in the other Mentor's tributes?"

"I dunno, they just caught my attention, anyways it's about time Haymitch got some attention. The old drunk."

"Alright, I'll come along. If only for the fact that he always has a knife on him."

We approach Haymitch, and it's obvious we aren't the first ones to try to talk to him. He's already grumpy and irritated

He shoots us a glare "If you want to get to know my tributes, you're gonna have to get in line. In any event, they are mysteries to me."

I laugh "So, everyone's interested in you this year?"

He grumbles "Seems so, and the girl's temper isn't making this any easier."

I smile. "Give her a break, she just volunteered for the hunger games after all."

"So? That was her choice, not mine. No need to try and stab me."

"She tries to stab you? I like her."

"Whatever sweetheart." With that, he walks away.

"So, I guess the old drunk is as grumpy as ever." I turn to face Finnick, who has a smirk on his face.

"Guess so." We walk back to our chariot.

The tributes come out. They're dressed in fishnets and seashells and soon the chariots take off.

We stand and watch, the capitolites love it, they're screaming, but twelve grabs their attention. Their outfits are on fire, and the crowd is eating it up.

After the parade, we ride up to the fourth floor and eat dinner. It's quiet, and afterward, Finnick tells them to head off to bed.

"Tomorrow is your first day of training, and you're the first time meeting the other careers. You'll want all of the energy you can get, to impress the others."

They listen and head off to bed, and soon we do too.

I sleep, and the nightmares come. They're filled with flames along with the usual terrors.

A/N, the next few chapters won't be from Annie's POV. Next chapter will be from Katniss' POV

Please review!


	14. 74th Hunger Games Interview Night

A/N, This chapter is from Katniss' POV. Enjoy!

Katniss-Interview night of the 74th Hunger games

I'm sitting in a bare metal room when Cinna comes in. I smile and hug him. He's the only one in the capital that cares about her.

"How am I supposed to do this? I don't know how to make people like me."

"You made me like you."

I scowl. "That was different; I wasn't trying."

"Just act like you're talking to me."

I look down at my dress. It's a bright red with glitter covering it. The top was tight while the bottom flared out at the bottom. It had no sleeves, with a trail of glitter covering one of my shoulders.

We head out to the waiting area. The rest of the tributes are waiting for their interview. Caesar calls out the girl from one, Glimmer. I don't pay attention to the interviews. When my name is called, I walk out onto the stage. I'm so nervous I miss Caesar's first question.

"What?"

Caesar laughs. "I think someone's a little nervous."

I smile.

"I asked you, what has impressed you the most since you arrived here?"

"The lamb stew. "

He laughs "I eat that by the bucketful."

I laugh

"Now, Katniss, what did you think of your costume for the opening ceremonies?"

Be honest. "You mean after I got over my fear of being burnt alive?"

"Yes."

"I think Cinna is a genius. I mean, look at the dress I'm wearing tonight."

He laughs, and I look out at Cinna, who makes a circular motion with his finger. He wants me to spin. So I do — the audience shrieks in delight. My dress has caught fire, and it's engulfing me. When I stop, I'm dizzy, and I have to grip Caesar's arm to prevent from falling.

"Steady there, couldn't have you pulling a Haymitch now."

I laugh, and so does the audience.

"Now, about that training score, you got an eleven. Can you tell us what happened there?"

I smile. "Why, Caesar, I can't give up my secret."

"Oh, come on. You're killing me."

I look up at the game makers "I can't talk about it, right?"

They all laugh. One of them shouts. "She's not!"

I smile "thank you."

"Alright then, what about your sister? Can you talk about her?"

"She's twelve. Her name is Prim, and I love her more than anything else."

The audience is silent.

"What did she say to you, after the reaping?"

Be honest. "She asked me to win, and I told her I would."

At that, the buzzer goes off, and Caesar leads me off stage.

I'm in a daze for the first part of Peeta's interview, but my attention snaps to the stage when Caesar asks him if he has a girlfriend back home.

"No, but there is this one girl I've liked forever, but I don't think she even knew I was alive until the reaping."

"Does she have another guy?"

"I don't know, lots of guys like her though."

"So, you go and win these games, and when you get home, she can't turn you down."

"I don't think that will help."

"Why not?"

"Because she came here with me."

Then, the buzzer rings and Peeta walks off stage. When he gets backstage, I yell.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was just trying to help."

"Help?! How was that help?" I shove him backward and he hits the wall.

Haymitch comes and breaks us up. "He made you look desirable, which in your case, couldn't hurt, Sweetheart."

This gives me a pause. Maybe he's right. Maybe this could help me get some sponsors. There is still the nagging voice in my head telling me that Peeta is acting nice to trick me, but I decide to ignore it.

We head back to our floor and eat dinner. Then we head off to bed. After all, tomorrow is going to be a 'Big, big, big day.'


	15. Katniss' Games Part One

A/N, another chapter from Katniss' POV this is the first half of the games or so. Nothing really changes from cannon here. Next chapter things will be different. These chapters are from Katniss's POV because, well she is the interesting part of the story, and just because this is an Odesta story doesn't mean the attention has to be on them the entire time. Afterall, Katniss is the driving force of the rebellion. I know this chapter and the last chapter are pretty much straight from the book, but things will get interesting soon, just hang with me.

A/N 2, This chapter is long, but it's just Katniss' games up to Rue's death so feel free to skip it if you want. Next chapter is from Haymitch's POV.

Katniss-74th Hunger Games Part One

We wake at dawn to prepare for the arena. Haymitch and Effie will be headed to the Game Headquarters, where they will sign our sponsors and give us gifts.

"It has been an honor to escort you two. You both have truly been the best tributes I have ever had. I wouldn't be surprised if I finally get promoted to a decent district next year!" With that, Effie kiss us both on the cheek and heads off.

Haymitch just stands with his arms crossed. "Any last advice?" Peeta asks.

"Get the hell out of there, you don't want to be in the bloodbath. Find water, water is your new best friend."

"And after that?" I ask.

"Stay alive." It's the same advice he gave us on the train, but this time it means something. That is the only real piece of advice he can give us at this point. Then, he leaves and soon Cinna and Portia come in.

We walk to the hovercraft landing and board, once inside trackers are implanted in our arms, and we are off. The ride takes about a half an hour. When the ride is over we head to my final dressing room. Inside, the clothes are laid out.

"The material is designed to reflect body heat, expect some cool nights." Then, he braids my hair in the normal style and pins my mockingjay pin to my sleeve.

We sit, and wait. Soon, a glass chamber appears and I step into it. The door closes and lifts me up.

The light from the arena blinds me, and I hear Claudius Templesmith's voice boom around us.

"Let the 74th Annual Hunger Games begin!"

I look around. There is a golden cornucopia in the middle, filled with food, medicine, weapons, and everything else that could possibly be of any help to us in here. The ground around us is hard-packed dirt. To the right there is a lake, and behind me there is woods. I know I'm going to head to the woods, as soon as the gong sounds. Then, I turn to the cornucopia and see a bow. Already strung, with a quiver of arrows beside it. The gamemakers put it there for me, I know it.

I position my feet to run, towards to cornucopia. I look around once more and spot Peeta, he's looking at me and shaking his head. What does that mean? He distracts me, and the gongs goes off. I'm late, and can't make it to the cornucopia in time, so I grab a sheet of plastic and a loaf of bread. I look around, angry because Peeta distracted me, then I spot a orange backpack 20 feet away and sprint for it. The boy from nine reaches it before me and I try to grab it from out of his hands. We tussle for a minute before I'm splattered with his blood. I stagger back, and spot the girl from two, she has a knife in her hand, preparing to throw it.

I think back to training, she never misses her target, and now that target is me. I'm overcome with fear and turn and run, straight into the woods. She throws the knife, and it hits the backpack. I know she won't chase me, she'll want to get back to the cornucopia before all of the good stuff is gone.

When I reach the woods I turn to observe the field, several lie dead on the ground, and about a dozen tributes are still fighting at the horn, and the rest have disappeared into the woods or the grass field opposite the woods. I turn and jog further into the woods. For the next few hours I jog into the woods. Late in the afternoon I hear the cannons, each one represents a tribute's death. I count eleven. I think about Peeta, did he survive? I'll know later, when they display the dead in the sky.

I slump down, exhausted. I decide to go through my backpack before night falls. The backpack is bright orange, so I cover it in mud so I blend in well. I look inside. There is some food, a sleeping bag, some wire, a plastic water bottle, with no water in it. My throat is dry and my lips are cracked, I won't last long without water. I think back, there was a lake by the cornucopia. I begin to panic, what if that is the only source of water? That's a few hours away and likely being guarded by the careers.

I take my wire and set up two snares before climbing a tree for the night. I place my sleeping bag on a large branch and tuck my backpack into the foot of the bag, before climbing in. Then, I take my belt and wrap it around me and the branch. I pull my hood over my head and pull the top of the bag over me.

I lie there and wait, soon the anthem plays and I peak out to see the fallen. The girl from 3, the boy from 4, the boy from 5, both from 6 and 7, the boy from 8, and both from 9, and the girl from 10. So, 10 outer district kids died, and one career. Peeta's , 5 careers left, the fox faced girl from 5, Thresh and Rue from eleven, me and Peeta, and three more I can't think of. Slowly, I doze off to sleep.

I wake hours later, to the sound of branches snapping and a fire being lit. I'm angry now, who in their right mind would start a fire? They aren't far from me and I'm stuck in this tree. A few hours before dawn, the careers come. I hear the girl screaming, and soon a cannon sounds. They laugh and hoot.

"Twelve down and eleven to go!" They stomp out the fire and start heading in my direction.

I think that they will just walk past me, but they set up camp just a few yards from me. I look at them and to my surprise, Peeta is sitting among them. I'm so shocked that I fall and roll to the underside of the branch, held in place by only my belt and my hands.

I'm furious, how could he team up with the careers? They have it better because they're trained and loved by the capital. Nobody from twelve would ever join them! Just imagine what the people of twelve are saying.

"Hey, lover boy, why don't you go get us some food?" The girl from two tells him.

When he walks away he's limping. Good. I think, he got hurt, he deserves it.

"Why haven't we just killed him already?" The girl from one whines once Peeta's out of earshot.

"He's our best chance of finding her." The boy from two replies.

"Really, you think she bought that sappy romance story?" The girl from two asks him.

"She might have, i mean, you saw her spinning in that dress, she seemed pretty stupid to me." Cato, I remember his name now.

The girl from one whines again "I wish we knew how she got that eleven." Glimmer, that's her name.

"Bet lover boy knows." The girl from two, Clove.

Peeta comes back with some berries and a couple of lizards. They get up and leave.

Soon, dawn breaks and the birds begin to sing. I get out of the tree and check my snares, I find one rabbit. I take it and gut it. I wish I could cook it, eating rabbit raw can make you sick. Then, an idea hits me. I take off towards the girl's fire from last night. Sure enough, when I get there, the twigs are still hot. I take some sticks and fashion a spit out of them. I cook the rabbit and stash it in my bag for later, eating half of it.

As I walk I take not of the dehydration that is settling over me, my urine has been dark brown and my lips are cracked. I think about what I know about finding water. It runs downhill, so the valley I've been crossing is a good thing.

Late in the afternoon I find a berrybush. I strip the branches and hold them to my mouth before looking at them, these aren't blueberries like I had originally thought. I don't know what berries these are, so I throw them down. I feel tired the rest of the afternoon, I stop frequently and when Night falls I strap myself into a tree and suck on a rabbit bone. The anthem plays and the only face in the sky is the girl, from District eight.

When morning comes my head throbs and even simple movements bring stabs of pain. I think of my options. Return to the lake, no good I won't make it. Hope for rain, no clouds in the sky. Keep looking, this is my only choice, so I keep moving. By the afternoon my legs are shaking and my heart is beating too fast. I keep forgetting what my mission is. I stumble and trip often, and when my feet slide on a slick surface I can't regain my footing.

This isn't so bad, the air here is nice, and there is a sweet scent of lilies in the air. My fingers hit the soft, moist ground. Mud, I think. I like mud it has helped me in hunting countless times.

Then, it hits me. Mud! That means I'm right by water! I crawl through the mud towards the water. It takes all of my strength not to plunge my face into the water. I fill my bottle and add iodine drops to it. The half an hour it takes to purify is agony, but I wait. I drain two bottles of water and prepare a third before I retire to a tree for the night. I eat the rest of the rabbit for dinner. The anthem plays, no tributes died today.

A few hours later I wake to the sight of a firewall rushing fast towards me. I quickly undo my belt and jump from the tree, grabbing my sleeping bag with all of my supplies in it. I run, following the animals that are also trying to escape the flames. The heat is smothering, but even worse than that is the smoke. I choke and cough as smoke fills my lungs. I run, my throat and nose burning. These flames have been made by the gamemakers to drive us together, and it's very effective.

A fireball blasts and I narrowly dodge it. I run wild, dodging fireballs left and right. To remain still is death, so I keep moving. I keep running, knowing that if I run far enough I will be out of range from the fireballs. The attacks slow, and I stop, retching and vomiting. As I finish retching I hear another hiss, and dodge, but not fast enough this time. The fireball skids across my left thigh, leaving burns and scorched material.

The attacks stop, and I limp out of the smoke. I'm in so much pain that I don't notice the pool of water until It's up to my ankles. I stumble forward and splash the cool water over the burns on my hands. I sit at the edge of the pool and examine the burn on my calf. It's covered in blisters and bright red. I keep my face blank, not showing pain. I cut away the fabric surrounding my wound. None of the skin is black, so I dip it in the water. The water offers some relief from the pain. I look at my sleeping bag, it's not damaged much, just some black spots here and there.

Despite my pain, I begin to get tired, so I gather some edible roots and climb a tree. I sip water with my meal. I take a nap, before I'm woken by the raspy voices of the careers. I gather my things and hop from the tree. Slowed by my leg, I run, splashing through the pool. They close in on me, and I quickly find a high tree and begin to climb. By the time they reach the base of my tree I'm twenty feet up. They are all grinning and snarling at me, even though they look pretty beat up.

Then, a realization hits them. They may be stronger than me, but they are also bigger. That means they won't be able to climb the tree as well as me.

I smile "How have you guys been?"

They are taken aback, but Cato answers "We've been good, how about you?"

"It's been a bit too hot for me, but the air is better up here, care to join me?" I can practically hear the laughter from the capital.

Cato answers again. "Sounds good to me."

Glimmer, the girl from one, offers him the bow and arrows. "Take this Cato."

Cato refuses the bow "No, I'll do better with my sword."

Cato begins to climb and I climb higher. I'm thirty feet higher when I look down and see

Cato falling as a branch snaps under him. He gets back on his feet, swearing. Now, Glimmer climbs the tree, and when the branches begin to crack beneath her feet she stops and tries to shoot me, the arrow lodges near my head and I pluck it from the tree, waving it at her. The careers grumble among themselves.

"Just let her stay up there." The voice belongs to Peeta. "She has to come down eventually."

He's right about that, the pain in my leg is back in full force. I try to sleep, but sleep won't come. I look around, and see a pair of eyes. It's Rue, and she's looking right at me, pointing up. I follow her finger and soon I spot a large wasp's nest. I think, these aren't likely to be normal wasps they are more likely to be tracker jackers, capitol muttations. Their venom cause hallucinations, and often death. They also track down anyone or thing that disturbs their nest. I look back to Rue, but she is gone.

It doesn't matter what kind of nest is above me, I'm trapped. The careers will kill me in the morning. Dropping that nest on them might be my last option. So, I begin to climb, up to the branch the nest hangs from. I think, my knife should be able to cut down the nest, but will my hands hold up? What if the noise wakes the careers? Then they'll realize what I'm doing and move their camp. I realize that I'll have to saw during the anthem, so I wait

When the anthem comes I begin to saw. It hurts, and the blisters on my hands pop. I glance at the sky, there were no deaths today. By time the anthem is almost over I'm only 3/4s of the way through the branch. I stop, deciding to finish at dawn tomorrow.

I climb back down to find a wonderful surprise. Sitting on my sleeping bag is a silver parachute attached to a metal pot. The pot is small. What could it be? Not food, I open it and smell medicine. I touch the surface to find an ointment, and the pain in my hand fades. I rub the medicine over my hands and calf. Then, I carefully wrap the pot in the parachute and place it in my bag.

With the pain gone I quickly fall asleep. I wake at dawn to a bird singing. I look down at my calf and find the skin on my hands to be completely healed. My calf is still inflamed, so I add another coat of medicine. I look down and see the career pack asleep. I look around and whisper out Rue's name. I want to warn her before I set the nest loose.

Her eyes appear. I point to the nest and make a sawing motion with my knife. She nods and disappears. I quickly climb back up to the nest's branch. I look at the nest and see a single tracker jacker sitting outside the nest, on a leaf. It's moving slowly, but it's up, which mean the entire nest could be up and moving soon. I saw through the branch once more, and shove the branch away from me just as I make the final cut. A few tracker jackers find me and sting me. I feel a single sting on my hand, one on my cheek and a third on my neck.

The careers awake to a nest full of tracker jackers, furiously stinging. The ones from two, the boy from one and Peeta all run away quickly, while Glimmer and the girl from four are not so lucky. Glimmer goes mad, swatting them away pointlessly with her bow. The girl from four staggers out of sight, but I doubt she'll make it.

I climb down the tree and quickly make my way to the pool of water. After a few minutes I climb out of the water and lay on the rocks. I think about glimmer, dieing on the ground from the stings. Somehow, through the venom, my mind is able to process the fact that Glimmer has the bow. I stumble back towards where Glimmer is lying and pry the bow from her stiff fingers. I roll her over to take the sheath from her back. Suddenly, two cannons fire, Glimmer's and probably the girl from four.

My mind is spinning as Peeta crashes through the trees.

"Are you crazy? Get out of here, go!"

I listen and take off through the trees just as Cato comes crashing into sight. I stumble on, past my pool and when I collapse from the venom I have no idea where I am.

My nightmares are filled with visions of Prim dying, my father's last moments, and visions of my own body being ripped apart. When I wake my body is aching and I'm lying on my side. I'm stiff and when I sit up I find that I'm in a small hole dug into the ground. I sit and sip my water. I think of the others. Peeta and the pair from two, as well as the boy from one were all stung, they must have had hallucinations as well. But Rue, if she was stung even a few times it might have killed her, but she did have a head start, maybe she avoided getting hit.

I grab my bow and the sheath and get up, moving slowly I hunt and search for water. I kill a rabbit and a turkey. I decide to cook it at dusk, when the darkness would conceal the smoke, but the fire wouldn't be a beacon. I start the fire and start cooking the first load of meat. My head snaps up as I hear a twig snap behind my back. I scan the area and smile as I spot a small boot poking out from behind a tree.

"They aren't the only ones who can form alliances, you know."

Rue edges out from behind the tree. "You want me as an ally?"

"You're smart, and you saved me with those tracker jackers." She blinks, undecided. "You hungry?" Her eyes flicker to the meat. "Come on, I have enough to share."

She steps out from behind the tree and sits beside me. I hand her a piece of meat and she eats it. After a while she reaches into her pack and pulls out a handful of leaves. "These will fix your stings." Then, she sticks them in her mouth and chews them, before pressing the mixture to the sting on my hand. I sigh, the leaves seem to leech the pain right out of me.

"Can you do the other two?" She nods and chews some more leaves. She presses the mixture to my stings and I relax.

I notice a long burn on Rue's forearm. "I've got something for that." I set aside my weapons and anoint her arm with the burn medicine.

"You have good sponsors," she says longingly.

"Have you gotten anything yet?" I ask. She shakes her head. "You will, though. Watch. The closer we get to the end, the more people will realize how clever you are." I turn the meat over.

"You weren't joking, about wanting me for an ally?" she asks.

"No, I meant it," I say. I can almost hear Haymitch groaning as I team up with this wispy child. But I want her. Because she's a survivor, and I trust her, and why not admit it? She reminds me of Prim.

"Okay," she says, and holds out her hand. We shake. "It's a deal."

Of course, this kind of deal can only be temporary, but neither of us mentions that.

"Oh," says Rue with a sigh. "I've never had a whole leg to myself before."

I'll bet she hasn't. I'll bet meat hardly ever comes her way. "Take the other," I say.

"Really?" she asks.

"Take whatever you want. Now that I've got a bow and arrows, I can get more. Plus I've got snares. I can show you how to set them," I say. Rue still looks uncertaintly at the leg. "Oh, take it," I say, putting the drumstick in her hands. "It will only keep a few days anyway, and we've got the whole bird plus the rabbit." Once she's got hold of it, her appetite wins out and she takes a huge mouthful.

"I'd have thought, in District Eleven, you'd have a bit more to eat than us. You know, since you grow the food," I say.

Rue's eyes widen. "Oh, no, we're not allowed to eat the crops."

"They arrest you or something?" I ask.

"They whip you and make everyone else watch," says Rue. "The mayor's very strict about it."

"Do you get all the coal you want?" Rue asks.

"No," I answer. "Just what we buy and whatever we track in on our boots."

"They feed us a bit extra during harvest, so that people can keep going longer," says Rue.

"Don't you have to be in school?" I ask.

"Not during harvest. Everyone works then," says Rue.

At Rue's suggestion, we lay out all our food to plan ahead. She's seen most of mine, but I add the last couple of crackers and beef strips to the pile. She's gathered quite a collection of roots, nuts, greens, and even some berries.

I roll an unfamiliar berry in my fingers. "You sure this is safe?"

"Oh, yes, we have them back home. I've been eating them for days," she says, popping a handful in her mouth. I tentatively bite into one, and it's as good as our blackberries. Taking Rue on as an ally seems a better choice all the time. We divide up our food supplies, so in case we're separated, we'll both be set for a few days. Apart from the food, Rue has a small water skin, a homemade slingshot, and an extra pair of socks. She also has a sharp shard of rock she uses as a knife. "I know it's not much," she says as if embarrassed, "but I had to get away from the Cornucopia fast."

"You did just right," I say. When I spread out my gear, she gasps a little when she sees the sunglasses.

"How did you get those?" she asks.

"In my pack. They've been useless so far. They don't block the sun and they make it harder to see," I say with a shrug.

"These aren't for sun, they're for darkness," exclaims Rue. "Sometimes, when we harvest through the night, they'll pass out a few pairs to those of us highest in the trees. Where the torchlight doesn't reach. One time, this boy Martin, he tried to keep his pair. Hid it in his pants. They killed him on the spot."

"They killed a boy for taking these?" I say.

"Yes, and everyone knew he was no danger. Martin wasn't right in the head. I mean, he still acted like a three-year-old. He just wanted the glasses to play with," says Rue.

Hearing this makes me feel like District 12 is some sort of safe haven. Of course, people keel over from starvation all the time, but I can't imagine the Peacekeepers murdering a simpleminded child. There's a little girl, one of Greasy Sae's grandkids, who wanders around the Hob. She's not quite right, but she's treated as a sort of pet. People toss her scraps and things.

"So what do these do?" I ask Rue, taking the glasses.

"They let you see in complete darkness," says Rue. "Try them tonight when the sun goes down."

I give Rue some matches and she makes sure I have plenty of leaves in case my stings flare up again. We extinguish our fire and head upstream until it's almost nightfall.

"Where do you sleep?" I ask her. "In the trees?" She nods. "In just your jacket?"

Rue holds up her extra pair of socks. "I have these for my hands."

I think of how cold the nights have been. "You can share my sleeping bag if you want. We'll both easily fit." Her face lights up. I can tell this is more than she dared hope for.

We pick a fork high in a tree and settle in for the night just as the anthem begins to play. There were no deaths today.

"Rue, I only woke up today. How many nights did I miss?" The anthem should block out our words, but still I whisper. I even take the precaution of covering my lips with my hand. I don't want the audience to know what I'm planning to tell her about Peeta. Taking a cue from me, she does the same.

"Two," she says. "The girls from Districts One and Four are dead. There's ten of us left."

"Something strange happened. At least, I think it did. It might have been the tracker jacker venom making me imagine things," I say. "You know the boy from my district? Peeta? I think he saved my life. But he was with the Careers."

"He's not with them now," she says. "I've spied on their base camp by the lake. They made it back before they collapsed from the stingers. But he's not there. Maybe he did save you and had to run."

I don't answer. If, in fact, Peeta did save me, I'm in his debt again. And this can't be paid back. "If he did, it was all probably just part of his act. You know, to make people think he's in love with me."

"Oh," says Rue thoughtfully. "I didn't think that was an act."

"Course it is," I say. "He worked it out with our mentor." The anthem ends and the sky goes dark. "Let's try out these glasses." I pull out the glasses and slip them on. Rue wasn't kidding. I can see everything from the leaves on the trees to a skunk strolling through the bushes a good fifty feet away. I could kill it from here if I had a mind to. I could kill anyone.

"I wonder who else got a pair of these," I say.

"The Careers have two pairs. But they've got everything down by the lake," Rue says. "And they're so strong."

"We're strong, too," I say. "Just in a different way."

"You are. You can shoot," she says. "What can I do?"

"You can feed yourself. Can they?" I ask.

"They don't need to. They have all those supplies," Rue says.

"Say they didn't. Say the supplies were gone. How long would they last?" I say. "I mean, it's the Hunger Games, right?"

"But they're not hungry," says Rue.

"No, they're not. That's the problem," I agree. And for the first time, I have a plan. A plan that isn't motivated by the need for flight and evasion. An offensive plan. "I think we're going to have to fix that, Rue."

As the anthem finishes Rue snuggles up against me in the sleeping bag. I think, both of us can't win these games, but the odds are against the both of us surviving anyway, so I ignore the thought.

Instead, I think about my latest idea. Somehow, me and Rue need to find a way to destroy their supplies. Then, they will have to feed themselves. I'm pretty sure feeding themselves will be a tremendous struggle. Traditionally, the Career tributes' strategy is to get hold of all the food early on and work from there. The years when they have not protected it well those are usually the years that tributes from other districts have won. That the Careers have been better red growing up is actually to their disadvantage, because they don't know how to be hungry. Not the way Rue and I do.

I'm too tired to form a plan, so I snuggle in next to Rue and fall asleep. I wake to the boom of a canon. It's already light out, and a few minutes later Rue comes back with two eggs in her hands.

"Who do you think that was?" I can't help thinking of Peeta.

"I don't know. It could have been any of the others," says Rue. "I guess we'll know tonight."

"Who's left again?" I ask.

"The boy from District One. Both tributes from Two. The boy from Three. Thresh and me. And you and Peeta," says Rue. "That's eight. Wait, and the boy from Ten, the one with the bad leg. He makes nine."

There's someone else, but neither of us can remember who it is.

"I wonder how that last one died," says Rue.

"No telling. But it's good for us. A death should hold the crowd for a bit. Maybe we'll have time to do something before the Gamemakers decide things have been moving too slowly," I say. "What's in your hands?"

"Breakfast," says Rue. She holds out two big eggs.

"What kind are those?" I ask.

"Not sure. There's a marshy area over that way. Some kind of waterbird," she says.

It'd be nice to cook them, but neither of us wants to risk a fire. My guess is the tribute who died today was a victim of the Careers, which means they've recovered enough to be back in the Games. We each suck out the insides of an egg, eat a rabbit leg and some berries. It's a good breakfast anywhere.

"Ready to do it?" I say, pulling on my pack.

"Do what?" says Rue, but by the way she bounces up, you can tell she's up for whatever I propose.

"Today we take out the Careers' food," I say.

"Really? How?" You can see the glint of excitement in her eyes. In this way, she's exactly the opposite of Prim for whom adventures are an ordeal.

"No idea. Come on, we'll figure out a plan while we hunt," I say.

We don't get much hunting done though because I'm too busy getting every scrap of information I can out of Rue about the Careers' base. She's only been in to spy on them briefly, but she's observant. They have set up their camp beside the lake. Their supply stash is about thirty yards away. During the day, they've been leaving another tribute, the boy from District 3, to watch over the supplies.

"The boy from District Three?" I ask. "He's working with them?"

"Yes, he stays at the camp full-time. He got stung, too, when they drew the tracker jackers in by the lake," says Rue. "I guess they agreed to let him live if he acted as their guard. But he's not very big."

"What weapons does he have?" I ask.

"Not much that I could see. A spear. He might be able to hold a few of us off with that, but Thresh could kill him easily," says Rue.

"And the food's just out in the open?" I say. She nods. "Something's not quite right about that whole setup."

"I know. But I couldn't tell what exactly," says Rue. "Katniss, even if you could get to the food, how would you get rid of it?"

"Burn it. Dump it in the lake. Soak it in fuel." I poke Rue in the belly, just like I would Prim. "Eat it!" She giggles. "Don't worry, I'll think of something. Destroying things is much easier than making them."

For a while, we dig roots, we gather berries and greens, we devise a strategy in hushed voices. And I come to know Rue, the oldest of six kids, fiercely protective of her siblings, who gives her rations to the younger ones, who forages in the meadows in a district where the Peacekeepers are far less obliging than ours. Rue, who when you ask her what she loves most in the world, replies, of all things, "Music."

"Music?" I say. In our world, I rank music somewhere between hair ribbons and rainbows in terms of usefulness. At least a rainbow gives you a tip about the weather. "You have a lot of time for that?"

"We sing at home. At work, too. That's why I love your pin," she says, pointing to the mockingjay that I've again forgotten about.

"You have mockingjays?" I ask.

"Oh, yes. I have a few that are my special friends. We can sing back and forth for hours. They carry messages for me," she says.

"What do you mean?" I say.

"I'm usually up highest, so I'm the first to see the flag that signals quitting time. There's a special little song I do," says Rue. She opens her mouth and sings a little four-note run in a sweet, clear voice. "And the mockingjays spread it around the orchard. That's how everyone knows to knock off," she continues. "They can be dangerous though, if you get too near their nests. But you can't blame them for that."

I unclasp the pin and hold it out to her. "Here, you take it. It has more meaning for you than me."

"Oh, no," says Rue, closing my fingers back over the pin. "I like to see it on you. That's how I decided I could trust you. Besides, I have this." She pulls a necklace woven out of some kind of grass from her shirt. On it, hangs a roughly carved wooden star. Or maybe it's a flower. "It's a good luck charm."

"Well, it's worked so far," I say, pinning the mockingjay back on my shirt. "Maybe you should just stick with that."

By lunch, we have a plan. By early afternoon, we are poised to carry it out. I help Rue collect and place the wood for the first two campfires, the third she'll have time for on her own. We decide to meet afterward at the site where we ate our first meal together. The stream should help guide me back to it. Before I leave, I make sure Rue's well stocked with food and matches. I even insist she take my sleeping bag, in case it's not possible to rendezvous by nightfall.

"What about you? Won't you be cold?" she asks.

"Not if I pick up another bag down by the lake," I say. "You know, stealing isn't illegal here," I say with a grin.

At the last minute, Rue decides to teach me her mockingjay signal, the one she gives to indicate the day's work is done. "It might not work. But if you hear the mockingjays singing it, you'll know I'm okay, only I can't get back right away."

"Are there many mockingjays here?" I ask.

"Haven't you seen them? They've got nests everywhere," she says. I have to admit I haven't noticed.

"Okay, then. If all goes according to plan, I'll see you for dinner," I say.

Unexpectedly, Rue throws her arms around me. I only hesitate a moment before I hug her back.

"You be careful," she says to me.

"You, too," I say. I turn and head back to the stream, feeling somehow worried. About Rue being killed, about Rue not being killed and the two of us being left for last, about leaving Rue alone, about leaving Prim alone back home. No, Prim has my mother and Gale and a baker who has promised she won't go hungry. Rue has only me.

Once I reach the stream, I have only to follow it downhill to the place I initially picked it up after the tracker jacker attack. I have to be cautious as I move along the water though, because I find my thoughts preoccupied with unanswered questions, most of which concern Peeta. The cannon that fired early this morning, did that signify his death? If so, how did he die? At the hand of a Career? And was that in revenge for letting me live? I struggle again to remember that moment over Glimmer's body, when he burst through the trees. But just the fact that he was sparkling leads me to doubt everything that happened.

I must have been moving very slowly yesterday because I reach the shallow stretch where I took my bath in just a few hours. I stop to replenish my water and add a layer of mud to my backpack. It seems bent on reverting to orange no matter how many times I cover it.

My proximity to the Careers' camp sharpens my senses, and the closer I get to them, the more guarded I am, pausing frequently to listen for unnatural sounds, an arrow already fitted into the string of my bow. I don't see any other tributes, but I do notice some of the things Rue has mentioned. Patches of the sweet berries. A bush with the leaves that healed my stings. Clusters of tracker jacker nests in the vicinity of the tree I was trapped in. And here and there, the black-and-white flash of a mockingjay wing in the branches high over my head.

When I reach the tree with the abandoned nest at the foot, I pause a moment, to gather my courage. Rue has given specific instructions on how to reach the best spying place near the lake from this point. Remember, I tell myself. You're the hunter now, not them. I get a firmer grasp on my bow and go on. I make it to the copse Rue has told me about and again have to admire her cleverness. It's right at the edge of the wood, but the bushy foliage is so thick down low I can easily observe the Career camp without being spotted. Between us lies the flat expanse where the Games began.

There are four tributes. The boy from District 1, Cato and the girl from District 2, and a scrawny, ashen-skinned boy who must be from District 3. He made almost no impression on me at all during our time in the Capitol. I can remember almost nothing about him, not his costume, not his training score, not his interview. Even now, as he sits there fiddling with some kind of plastic box, he's easily ignored in the presence of his large and domineering companions. But he must be of some value or they wouldn't have bothered to let him live. Still, seeing him only adds to my sense of unease over why the Careers would possibly leave him as a guard, why they have allowed him to live at all.

All four tributes seem to still be recovering from the tracker jacker attack. Even from here, I can see the large swollen lumps on their bodies. They must not have had the sense to remove the stingers, or if they did, not known about the leaves that healed them. Apparently, whatever medicines they found in the Cornucopia have been ineffective.

The Cornucopia sits in its original position, but its insides have been picked clean. Most of the supplies, held in crates, burlap sacks, and plastic bins, are piled neatly in a pyramid in what seems a questionable distance from the camp. Others are sprinkled around the perimeter of the pyramid, almost mimicking the layout of supplies around the Cornucopia at the onset of the Games. A canopy of netting that, aside from discouraging birds, seems to be useless shelters the pyramid itself.

The whole setup is completely perplexing. The distance, the netting, and the presence of the boy from District 3. One thing's for sure, destroying those supplies is not going to be as simple as it looks. Some other factor is at play here, and I'd better stay put until I figure out what it is. My guess is the pyramid is booby-trapped in some manner. I think of concealed pits, descending nets, a thread that when broken sends a poisonous dart into your heart. Really, the possibilities are endless.

While I am mulling over my options, I hear Cato shout out. He's pointing up to the woods, far beyond me, and without turning I know that Rue must have set the first campfire. We'd made sure to gather enough green wood to make the smoke noticeable. The Careers begin to arm themselves at once.

An argument breaks out. It's loud enough for me to hear that it concerns whether or not the boy from District 3 should stay or accompany them.

"He's coming. We need him in the woods, and his job's done here anyway. No one can touch those supplies," says Cato.

"What about Lover Boy?" says the boy from District 1.

"I keep telling you, forget about him. I know where I cut him. It's a miracle he hasn't bled to death yet. At any rate, he's in no shape to raid us," says Cato.

So Peeta is out there in the woods, wounded badly. But I am still in the dark on what motivated him to betray the Careers.

"Come on," says Cato. He thrusts a spear into the hands of the boy from District 3, and they head off in the direction of the fire. The last thing I hear as they enter the woods is Cato saying, "When we find her, I kill her in my own way, and no one interferes."

Somehow I don't think he's talking about Rue. She didn't drop a nest of tracker jackers on him.

I stay put for a half an hour or so, trying to figure out what to do about the supplies. The one advantage I have with the bow and arrow is distance. I could send a flaming arrow into the pyramid easily enough - I'm a good enough shot to get it through those openings in the net - but there's no guarantee it would catch. More likely it'd just burn itself out and then what? I'd have achieved nothing and given them far too much information about myself. That I was here, that I have an accomplice, that I can use the bow and arrow with accuracy.

There's no alternative. I'm going to have to get in closer and see if I can't discover what exactly protects the supplies. In fact, I'm just about to reveal myself when a movement catches my eye. Several hundred yards to my right, I see someone emerge from the woods. For a second, I think it's Rue, but then I recognize Foxface - she's the one we couldn't remember this morning - creeping out onto the plain. When she decides it's safe, she runs for the pyramid, with quick, small steps. Just before she reaches the circle of supplies that have been littered around the pyramid, she stops, searches the ground, and carefully places her feet on a spot. Then she begins to approach the pyramid with strange little hops, sometimes landing on one foot, teetering slightly, sometimes risking a few steps. At one point, she launches up in the air, over a small barrel and lands poised on her tiptoes. But she overshot slightly, and her momentum throws her forward. I hear her give a sharp squeal as her hands hit the ground, but nothing happens. In a moment, she's regained her feet and continues until she has reached the bulk of the supplies.

So, I'm right about the booby trap, but it's clearly more complex than I had imagined. I was right about the girl, too. How wily is she to have discovered this path into the food and to be able to replicate it so neatly? She fills her pack, taking a few items from a variety of containers, crackers from a crate, a handful of apples from a burlap sack that hangs suspended from a rope off the side of a bin. But only a handful from each, not enough to tip off that the food is missing. Not enough to cause suspicion. And then she's doing her odd little dance back out of the circle and scampering into the woods again, safe and sound.

I realize I'm grinding my teeth in frustration. Foxface has confirmed what I'd already guessed. But what sort of trap have they laid that requires such dexterity? Has so many trigger points? Why did she squeal so as her hands made contact with the earth? You'd have thought. and slowly it begins to dawn on me. you'd have thought the very ground was going to explode.

"It's mined," I whisper. That explains everything. The Careers' willingness to leave their supplies, Foxface's reaction, the involvement of the boy from District 3, where they have the factories, where they make televisions and automobiles and explosives. But where did he get them? In the supplies? That's not the sort of weapon the Gamemakers usually provide, given that they like to see the tributes draw blood personally. I slip out of the bushes and cross to one of the round metal plates that lifted the tributes into the arena. The ground around it has been dug up and patted back down. The land mines were disabled after the sixty seconds we stood on the plates, but the boy from District 3 must have managed to reactivate them. I've never seen anyone in the Games do that. I bet it came as a shock even to the Gamemakers.

Well, hurray for the boy from District 3 for putting one over on them, but what am I supposed to do now? Obviously, I can't go strolling into that mess without blowing myself sky-high. As for sending in a burning arrow, that's more laughable than ever. The mines are set off by pressure. It doesn't have to be a lot, either. One year, a girl dropped her token, a small wooden ball, while she was at her plate, and they literally had to scrape bits of her off the ground.

My arm's pretty good, I might be able to chuck some rocks in there and set off what? Maybe one mine? That could start a chain reaction. Or could it? Would the boy from District 3 have placed the mines in such a way that a single mine would not disturb the others? Thereby protecting the supplies but ensuring the death of the invader. Even if I only blew up one mine, I'd draw the Careers back down on me for sure. And anyway, what am I thinking? There's that net, clearly strung to deflect any such attack. Besides, what I'd really need is to throw about thirty rocks in there at once, setting off a big chain reaction, demolishing the whole lot.

I glance back up at the woods. The smoke from Rue's second fire is wafting toward the sky. By now, the Careers have probably begun to suspect some sort of trick. Time is running out

There is a solution to this, I know there is, if I can only focus hard enough. I stare at the pyramid, the bins, the crates, too heavy to topple over with an arrow. Maybe one contains cooking oil, and the burning arrow idea is reviving when I realize I could end up losing all twelve of my arrows and not get a direct hit on an oil bin, since I'd just be guessing. I'm genuinely thinking of trying to re-create Foxface's trip up to the pyramid in hopes of finding a new means of destruction when my eyes light on the burlap bag of apples. I could sever the rope in one shot, didn't I do as much in the Training Center? It's a big bag, but it still might only be good for one explosion. If only I could free the apples themselves.

I know what to do. I move into range and give myself three arrows to get the job done. I place my feet carefully, block out the rest of the world as I take meticulous aim, The first arrow tears through the side of the bag near the top, leaving a split in the burlap. The second widens it to a gaping hole. I can see the first apple teetering when I let the third arrow go, catching the torn flap of burlap and ripping it from the bag.

For a moment, everything seems frozen in time. Then the apples spill to the ground and I'm blown backward into the air.

The impact with the hard-packed earth of the plain knocks the wind out of me. My backpack does little to soften the blow. Fortunately my quiver has caught in the crook of my elbow, sparing both itself and my shoulder, and my bow is locked in my grasp. The ground still shakes with explosions. I can't hear them. I can't hear anything at the moment. But the apples must have set off enough mines, causing debris to activate the others. I manage to shield my face with my arms as shattered bits of matter, some of it burning, rain down around me. An acrid smoke fills the air, which is not the best remedy for someone trying to regain the ability to breathe.

After about a minute, the ground stops vibrating. I roll on my side and allow myself a moment of satisfaction the sight of the smoldering wreckage that was recently the pyramid. The Careers aren't likely to salvage anything out of that.

I'd better get out of here, I think. They'll be making a beeline for the place. But once I'm on my feet, I realize escape may not be so simple. I'm dizzy. Not the slightly wobbly kind, but the kind that sends the trees swooping around you and causes the earth to move in waves under your feet.

I take a few steps and somehow wind up on my hands and knees. I wait a few minutes to let it pass, but it doesn't.

Panic begins to set in. I can't stay here. Flight is essential. But I can neither walk nor hear. I place a hand to my left ear, the one that was turned toward the blast, and it comes away bloody. Have I gone deaf from the explosion? The idea frightens me. I rely as much on my ears as my eyes as a hunter, maybe more at times. But I can't let my fear show. Absolutely, positively, I am live on every screen in Panem.

No blood trails, I tell myself, and manage to pull my hood up over my head, tie the cord under my chin with uncooperative fingers. That should help soak up the blood. I can't walk, but can I crawl? I move forward tentatively. Yes, if I go very slowly, I can crawl. Most of the woods will offer insufficient cover. My only hope is to make it back to Rue's copse and conceal myself in greenery. I can't get caught out here on my hands and knees in the open. Not only will I face death, it's sure to be a long and painful one at Cato's hand. The thought of Prim having to watch that keeps me doggedly inching my way toward the hideout.

Another blast knocks me flat on my face. A stray mine, set off by some collapsing crate. This happens twice more. I'm reminded of those last few kernels that burst when Prim and I pop corn over the fire at home.

To say I make it in the nick of time is an understatement. I have literally just dragged myself into the tangle of hushes at the base of the trees when there's Cato, barreling onto the plain, soon followed by his companions. His rage is so extreme it might be comical - so people really do tear out their hair and beat the ground with their fists - if I didn't know that it was aimed at me, at what I have done to him. Add to that my proximity, my inability to run or defend myself, and in fact, the whole thing has me terrified. I'm glad my hiding place makes it impossible for the cameras to get a close shot of me because I'm biting my nails like there's no tomorrow. Gnawing off the last bits of nail polish, trying to keep my teeth from chattering.

The boy from District 3 throws stones into the ruins and must have declared all the mines activated because the Careers are approaching the wreckage.

Cato has finished the first phase of his tantrum and takes out his anger on the smoking remains by kicking open various containers. The other tributes are poking around in the mess, looking for anything to salvage, but there's nothing. The boy from District 3 has done his job too well. This idea must occur to Cato, too, because he turns on the boy and appears to be shouting at him. The boy from District 3 only has time to turn and run before Cato catches him in a headlock from behind. I can see the muscles ripple in Cato's arms as he sharply jerks the boy's head to the side.

It's that quick. The death of the boy from District 3.

The other two Careers seem to be trying to calm Cato down. I can tell he wants to return to the woods, but they keep pointing at the sky, which puzzles me until I realize, Of course. They think whoever set off the explosions is dead.

They don't know about the arrows and the apples. They assume the booby trap was faulty, but that the tribute who blew up the supplies was killed doing it. If there was a cannon shot, it could have been easily lost in the subsequent explosions. The shattered remains of the thief removed by hovercraft. They retire to the far side of the lake to allow the Gamemakers to retrieve the body of the boy from District 3. And they wait.

I suppose a cannon goes off. A hovercraft appears and takes the dead boy. The sun dips below the horizon. Night falls. Up in the sky, I see the seal and know the anthem must have begun. A moment of darkness. They show the boy from District 3. They show the boy from District 10, who must have died this morning. Then the seal reappears. So, now they know. The bomber survived. In the seal's light, I can see Cato and the girl from District 2 put on their night-vision glasses. The boy from District 1 ignites a tree branch for a torch, illuminating the grim determination on all their faces. The Careers stride back into the woods to hunt.

The dizziness has subsided and while my left ear is still deafened, I can hear a ringing in my right, which seems a good sign. There's no point in leaving my hiding place, though. I'm about as safe as I can be, here at the crime scene. They probably think the bomber has a two- or three-hour lead on them. Still it's a long time before I risk moving.

The first thing I do is dig out my own glasses and put them on, which relaxes me a little, to have at least one of my hunter's senses working. I drink some water and wash the blood from my ear. Fearing the smell of meat will draw unwanted predators - fresh blood is bad enough - I make a good meal out of the greens and roots and berries Rue and I gathered today.

Where is my little ally? Did she make it back to the rendezvous point? Is she worried about me? At least, the sky has shown we're both alive.

I run through the surviving tributes on my fingers. The boy from 1, both from 2, Foxface, both from 11 and 12. Just eight of us. The betting must be getting really hot in the Capitol. They'll be doing special features on each of us now. Probably interviewing our friends and families. It's been a long time since a tribute from District 12 made it into the top eight. And now there are two of us. Although from what Cato said, Peeta's on his way out. Not that Cato is the final word on anything. Didn't he just lose his entire stash of supplies?

Let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin, Cato, I think. Let them begin for real.

A cold breeze has sprung up. I reach for my sleeping bag before I remember I left it with Rue. I was supposed to pick up another one, but what with the mines and all, I forgot. I begin to shiver. Since roosting overnight in a tree isn't sensible anyway, I scoop out a hollow under the bushes and cover myself with leaves and pine needles. I'm still freezing. I lay my sheet of plastic over my upper body and position my backpack to block the wind. It's a little better. I begin to have more sympathy for the girl from District 8 that lit the fire that first night. But now it's me who needs to grit my teeth and tough it out until morning. More leaves, more pine needles. I pull my arms inside my jacket and tuck my knees up to my chest. Somehow, I drift off to sleep.

When I open my eyes, the world looks slightly fractured, and it takes a minute to realize that the sun must be well up and the glasses fragmenting my vision. As I sit up and remove them, I hear a laugh somewhere near the lake and freeze. The laugh's distorted, but the fact that it registered at all means I must be regaining my hearing. Yes, my right ear can hear again, although it's still ringing. As for my left ear, well, at least the bleeding has stopped.

I peer through the bushes, afraid the Careers have returned, trapping me here for an indefinite time. No, it's Foxface, standing in the rubble of the pyramid and laughing. She's smarter than the Careers, actually finding a few useful items in the ashes. A metal pot. A knife blade. I'm perplexed by her amusement until I realize that with the Careers' stores eliminated, she might actually stand a chance. Just like the rest of us. It crosses my mind to reveal myself and enlist her as a second ally against that pack. But I rule it out. There's something about that sly grin that makes me sure that befriending Foxface would ultimately get me a knife in the back. With that in mind, this might be an excellent time to shoot her. But she's heard something, not me, because her head turns away, toward the drop-off, and she sprints for the woods. I wait. No one, nothing shows up. Still, if Foxface thought it was dangerous, maybe it's time for me to get out of here, too. Besides, I'm eager to tell Rue about the pyramid.

Since I've no idea where the Careers are, the route back by the stream seems as good as any. I hurry, loaded bow in one hand, a hunk of cold groosling in the other, because I'm famished now, and not just for leaves and berries but for the fat and protein in the meat. The trip to the stream is uneventful. Once there, I refill my water and wash, taking particular care with my injured ear. Then I travel uphill using the stream as a guide. At one point, I find boot prints in the mud along the bank. The Careers have been here, but not for a while. The prints are deep because they were made in soft mud, but now they're nearly dry in the hot sun. I haven't been careful enough about my own tracks, counting on a light tread and the pine needles to conceal my prints. Now I strip off my boots and socks and go barefoot up the bed of the stream.

The cool water has an invigorating effect on my body, my spirits. I shoot two fish, easy pickings in this slow-moving stream, and go ahead and eat one raw even though I've just had the groosling. The second I'll save for Rue.

Gradually, subtly, the ringing in my right ear diminishes until it's gone entirely. I find myself pawing at my left ear periodically, trying to clean away whatever deadens its ability to collect sounds. If there's improvement, it's undetectable. I can't adjust to deafness in the ear. It makes me feel off-balanced and defenseless to my left. Blind even. My head keeps turning to the injured side, as my right ear tries to compensate for the wall of nothingness where yesterday there was a constant flow of information. The more time that passes, the less hopeful I am that this is an injury that will heal.

When I reach the site of our first meeting, I feel certain it's been undisturbed. There's no sign of Rue, not on the ground or in the trees. This is odd. By now she should have returned, as it's midday. Undoubtedly, she spent the night in a tree somewhere. What else could she do with no light and the Careers with their night-vision glasses tramping around the woods. And the third fire she was supposed to set - although I forgot to check for it last night - was the farthest from our site of all. She's probably just being cautious about making her way back. I wish she'd hurry, because I don't want to hang around here too long. I want to spend the afternoon traveling to higher ground, hunting as we go. But there's nothing really for me to do but wait.

I wash the blood out of my jacket and hair and clean my ever-growing list of wounds. The burns are much better but I use a bit of medicine on them anyway. The main thing to worry about now is keeping out infection. I go ahead and eat the second fish. It isn't going to last long in this hot sun, but it should be easy enough to spear a few more for Rue. If she would just show up.

Feeling too vulnerable on the ground with my lopsided hearing, I scale a tree to wait. If the Careers show up, this will be a fine place to shoot them from. The sun moves slowly. I do things to pass the time. Chew leaves and apply them to my stings that are deflated but still tender. Comb through my damp hair with my fingers and braid it. Lace my boots back up. Check over my bow and remaining nine arrows. Test my left ear repeatedly for signs of life by rustling a leaf near it, but without good results.

Despite the groosling and the fish, my stomach's growling, and I know I'm going to have what we call a hollow day back in District 12. That's a day where no matter what you put in your belly, it's never enough. Having nothing to do but sit in a tree makes it worse, so I decide to give into it. After all, I've lost a lot of weight in the arena, I need some extra calories. And having the bow and arrows makes me far more confident about my future prospects.

I slowly peel and eat a handful of nuts. My last cracker. The groosling neck. That's good because it takes time to pick clean. Finally, a groosling wing and the bird is history. But it's a hollow day, and even with all that I start daydreaming about food. Particularly the decadent dishes served in the Capitol. The chicken in creamy orange sauce. The cakes and pudding. Bread with butter. Noodles in green sauce. The lamb and dried plum stew. I suck on a few mint leaves and tell myself to get over it. Mint is good because we drink mint tea after supper often, so it tricks my stomach into thinking eating time is over. Sort of.

Dangling up in the tree, with the sun warming me, a mouthful of mint, my bow and arrows at hand. this is the most relaxed I've been since I've entered the arena. If only Rue would show up, and we could clear out. As the shadows grow, so does my restlessness. By late afternoon, I've resolved to go looking for her. I can at least visit the spot where she set the third fire and see if there are any clues to her whereabouts.

Before I go, I scatter a few mint leaves around our old campfire. Since we gathered these some distance away, Rue will understand I've been here, while they'll mean nothing to the Careers.

In less than an hour, I'm at the place where we agreed to have the third fire and I know something has gone amiss. The wood has been neatly arranged, expertly interspersed with tinder, but it has never been lit. Rue set up the fire but never made it back here. Somewhere between the second column of smoke I spied before I blew up the supplies and this point, she ran into trouble.

I have to remind myself she's still alive. Or is she? Could the cannon shot announcing her death have come in the wee hours of the morning when even my good ear was too broken to pick it up? Will she appear in the sky tonight? No, I refuse to believe it. There could be a hundred other explanations. She could have lost her way. Run into a pack of predators or another tribute, like Thresh, and had to hide. Whatever happened, I'm almost certain she's stuck out there, somewhere between the second fire and the unlit one at my feet. Something is keeping her up a tree.

I think I'll go hunt it down.

It's a relief to be doing something after sitting around all afternoon. I creep silently through the shadows, letting them conceal me. But nothing seems suspicious. There's no sign of any kind of struggle, no disruption of the needles on the ground. I've stopped for just a moment when I hear it. I have to cock my head around to the side to be sure, but there it is again. Rue's four-note tune coming out of a mockingjay's mouth. The one that means she's all right.

I grin and move in the direction of the bird. Another just a short distance ahead, picks up on the handful of notes. Rue has been singing to them, and recently. Otherwise they'd have taken up some other song. My eyes lift up into the trees, searching for a sign of her. I swallow and sing softly back, hoping she'll know it's safe to join me. A mockingjay repeats the melody to me. And that's when I hear the scream

It's a child's scream, a young girl's scream, there's no one in the arena capable of making that sound except Rue. And now I'm running, knowing this may be a trap, knowing the three Careers may be poised to attack me, but I can't help myself. There's another high-pitched cry, this time my name.

"Katniss! Katniss!"

"Rue!" I shout back, so she knows I'm near. So, they know I'm near, and hopefully the girl who has attacked them with tracker jackers and gotten an eleven they still can't explain will be enough to pull their attention away from her. "Rue! I'm coming!"

Then I break into the clearing, she's on the ground, hopelessly entangled in a net. She just has time to reach her hand through the mesh and say my name before the spear enters her body.

The boy from District 1 dies before he can pull out the spear. My arrow drives deeply into the center of his neck. He falls to his knees and halves the brief remainder of his life by yanking out the arrow and drowning in his own blood. I'm reloaded, shifting my aim from side to side, while I shout at Rue, "Are there more? Are there more?"

She has to say no several times before I hear it. Rue has rolled to her side, her body curved in and around the spear. I shove the boy away from her and pull out my knife, freeing her from the net. One look at the wound and I know it's far beyond my capacity to heal, beyond anyone's probably. The spearhead is buried up to the shaft in her stomach. I crouch before her, staring helplessly at the embedded weapon. There's no point in comforting words, in telling her she'll be all right. She's no fool. Her hand reaches out and I clutch it like a lifeline. As if it's me who's dying instead of Rue.

"You blew up the food?" she whispers.

"Every last bit," I say.

"You have to win," she says.

"I'm going to. Going to win for both of us now," I promise. I hear a cannon and look up. It must be for the boy from District 1.

"Don't go." Rue tightens her grip on my hand.

"Course not. Staying right here," I say. I move in closer to her, pulling her head onto my lap. I gently brush the dark, thick hair back behind her ear.

"Sing," she says, but I barely catch the word.

Sing? I think. Sing what? I do know a few songs. Believe it or not, there was once music in my house, too. Music I helped make. My father pulled me in with that remarkable voice - but I haven't sung much since he died. Except when Prim is very sick. Then I sing her the same songs she liked as a baby.

Sing. My throat is tight with tears, hoarse from smoke and fatigue. But if this is Prim's, I mean, Rue's last request, I have to at least try. The song that comes to me is a simple lullaby, one we sing fretful, hungry babies to sleep with, It's old, very old I think. Made up long ago in our hills. What my music teacher calls a mountain air. But the words are easy and soothing, promising tomorrow will be more hopeful than this awful piece of time we call today.

I give a small cough, swallow hard, and begin:

Deep in the meadow, under the willow

A bed of grass, a soft green pillow

Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes

And when again they open, the sun will rise.

Here it's safe, here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from every harm

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you.

Rue's eyes have fluttered shut. Her chest moves but only slightly. My throat releases the tears and they slide down my cheeks. But I have to finish the song for her.

Deep in the meadow, hidden far away

A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray

Forget your woes and let your troubles lay

And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.

Here it's safe, here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from every harm

The final lines are barely audible.

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you.

Everything's still and quiet. Then, almost eerily, the mockingjays take up my song.

For a moment, I sit there, watching my tears drip down on her face. Rue's cannon fires. I lean forward and press my lips against her temple. Slowly, as if not to wake her, I lay her head back on the ground and release her hand.

They'll want me to clear out now. So they can collect the bodies. And there's nothing to stay for. I roll the boy from District 1 onto his face and take his pack, retrieve the arrow that ended his life. I cut Rue's pack from her back as well, knowing she'd want me to have it but leave the spear in her stomach. Weapons in bodies will be transported to the hovercraft. I've no use for a spear, so the sooner it's gone from the arena the better.

I can't stop looking at Rue, smaller than ever, a baby animal curled up in a nest of netting. I can't bring myself to leave her like this. Past harm, but seeming utterly defenseless. To hate the boy from District 1, who also appears so vulnerable in death, seems inadequate. It's the Capitol I hate, for doing this to all of us.

Gale's voice is in my head. His ravings against the Capitol no longer pointless, no longer to be ignored. Rue's death has forced me to confront my own fury against the cruelty, the injustice they inflict upon us. But here, even more strongly than at home, I feel my impotence. There's no way to take revenge on the Capitol. Is there?

Then I remember Peeta's words on the roof. "Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to. to show the Capital they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games." And for the first time, I understand what he means.

I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can't own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am I.

A few steps into the woods grows a bank of wildflowers. Perhaps they are really weeds of some sort, but they have blossoms in beautiful shades of violet and yellow and white. I gather up an armful and come back to Rue's side. Slowly, one stem at a time, I decorate her body in the flowers. Covering the ugly wound. Wreathing her face. Weaving her hair with bright colors.

They'll have to show it. Or, even if they choose to turn the cameras elsewhere at this moment, they'll have to bring them back when they collect the bodies and everyone will see her then and know I did it. I step back and take a last look at Rue. She could really be asleep in that meadow after all.

"Bye, Rue," I whisper. I press the three middle fingers of my left hand against my lips and hold them out in her direction. Then I walk away without looking back.

The birds fall silent. Somewhere, a mockingjay gives the warning whistle that precedes the hovercraft. I don't know how it knows. It must hear things that humans can't. I pause, my eyes focused on what's ahead, not what's happening behind me. It doesn't take long, then the general birdsong begins again and I know she's gone.

Another mockingjay, a young one by the look of it, lands on a branch before me and bursts out Rue's melody.

My song, the hovercraft, were too unfamiliar for this novice to pick up, but it has mastered her handful of notes. The ones that mean she's safe.

"Good and safe," I say as I pass under its branch. "We don't have to worry about her now." Good and safe.

I've no idea where to go. The brief sense of home I had that one night with Rue has vanished. My feet wander this way and that until sunset. I'm not afraid, not even watchful. Which makes me an easy target. Except I'd kill anyone I met on sight. Without emotion or the slightest tremor in my hands. My hatred of the Capitol has not lessened my hatred of my competitors in the least. Especially the Careers. They, at least, can be made to pay for Rue's death.

No one materializes though. There aren't many of us left and it's a big arena. Soon they'll be pulling out some other device to force us together. But there's been enough gore today. Perhaps we'll even get to sleep.

I'm about to haul my packs into a tree to make camp when a silver parachute floats down and lands in front of me. A gift from a sponsor. But why now? I've been in fairly good shape with supplies. Maybe Haymitch's noticed my despondency and is trying to cheer me up a bit. Or could it be something to help my ear?

I open the parachute and find a small loaf of bread It's not the fine white Capitol stuff. It's made of dark ration grain and shaped in a crescent. Sprinkled with seeds. I flash back to Peeta's lesson on the various district breads in the Training Center. This bread came from District 11. I cautiously lift the still warm loaf. What must it have cost the people of District 11 who can't even feed themselves? How many would've had to do without to scrape up a coin to put in the collection for this one loaf? It had been meant for Rue, surely. But instead of pulling the gift when she died, they'd authorized Haymitch to give it to me. As a thank-you? Or because, like me, they don't like to let debts go unpaid? For whatever reason, this is a first. A district gift to a tribute who's not your own.

I lift my face and step into the last falling rays of sunlight. "My thanks to the people of District Eleven," I say. I want them to know I know where it came from. That the full value of their gift has been recognized.

I climb dangerously high into a tree, not for safety but to get as far away from today as I can. My sleeping bag is rolled neatly in Rue's pack. Tomorrow I'll sort through the supplies. Tomorrow I'll make a new plan. But tonight, all I can do is strap myself in and take tiny bites of the bread. It's good. It tastes of home.

Soon the seal's in the sky, the anthem plays in my right ear. I see the boy from District 1, Rue. That's all for tonight. Six of us left, I think. Only six. With the bread still locked in my hands, I fall asleep at once.

Sometimes when things are particularly bad, my brain will give me a happy dream. A visit with my father in the woods. An hour of sunlight and cake with Prim. Tonight it sends me Rue, still decked in her flowers, perched in a high sea of trees, trying to teach me to talk to the mockingjays. I see no sign of her wounds, no blood, just a bright, laughing girl. She sings songs I've never heard in a clear, melodic voice. On and on. Through the night. There's a drowsy in-between period when I can hear the last few strains of her music although she's lost in the leaves. When I fully awaken, I'm momentarily comforted. I try to hold on to the peaceful feeling of the dream, but it quickly slips away, leaving me sadder and lonelier than ever.

Heaviness infuses my whole body, as if there's liquid lead in my veins. I've lost the will to do the simplest tasks, to do anything but lie here, staring unblinkingly through the canopy of leaves. For several hours, I remain motionless. As usual, it's the thought of Prim's anxious face as she watches me on the screens back home that breaks me from my lethargy.

I give myself a series of simple commands to follow, like "Now you have to sit up, Katniss. Now you have to drink water, Katniss." I act on the orders with slow, robotic motions. "Now you have to sort the packs, Katniss."

Rue's pack holds my sleeping bag, her nearly empty water skin, a handful of nuts and roots, a bit of rabbit, her extra socks, and her slingshot. The boy from District 1 has several knives, two spare spearheads, a flashlight, a small leather pouch, a first-aid kit, a full bottle of water, and a pack of dried fruit. A pack of dried fruit! Out of all he might have chosen from. To me, this is a sign of extreme arrogance. Why bother to carry food when you have such a bounty back at camp? When you will kill your enemies so quickly you'll be home before you're hungry? I can only hope the other Careers traveled so lightly when it came to food and now find themselves with nothing.

Speaking of which, my own supply is running low. I finish off the loaf from District 11 and the last of the rabbit. How quickly the food disappears. All I have left are Rue's roots and nuts, the boy's dried fruit, and one strip of beef. Now you have to hunt, Katniss, I tell myself.

I obediently consolidate the supplies I want into my pack. After I climb down the tree, I conceal the boy's knives and spearheads in a pile of rocks so that no one else can use them. I've lost my bearings what with all the wandering around I did yesterday evening, but I try and head back in the general direction of the stream. I know I'm on course when I come across Rue's third, unlit fire. Shortly thereafter, I discover a flock of grooslings perched in the trees and take out three before they know what hit them. I return to Rue's signal fire and start it up, not caring about the excessive smoke. Where are you, Cato? I think as I roast the birds and Rue's roots. I'm waiting right here.

Who knows where the Careers are now? Either too far to reach me or too sure this is a trick or... is it possible? Too scared of me? They know I have the bow and arrows, of course, Cato saw me take them from Glimmer's body, but have they put two and two together yet? Figured out I blew up the supplies and killed their fellow Career? Possibly they think Thresh did this. Wouldn't he be more likely to revenge Rue's death than I would? Being from the same district? Not that he ever took any interest in her.

And what about Foxface? Did she hang around to watch me blow up the supplies? No. When I caught her laughing in the ashes the next morning, it was as if someone had given her a lovely surprise.

I doubt they think Peeta has lit this signal fire. Cato's sure he's as good as dead. I find myself wishing I could tell Peeta about the flowers I put on Rue. That I now understand what he was trying to say on the roof. Perhaps if he wins the Games, he'll see me on victor's night, when they replay the highlights of the Games on a screen over the stage where we did our interviews. The winner sits in a place of honor on the platform, surrounded by their support crew.

But I told Rue I'd be there. For both of us. And somehow that seems even more important than the vow I gave Prim.

I really think I stand a chance of doing it now. Winning. It's not just having the arrows or outsmarting the Careers a few times, although those things help. Something happened when I was holding Rue's hand, watching the life drain out of her. Now I am determined to revenge her, to make her loss unforgettable, and I can only do that by winning and thereby making myself unforgettable.

I overcook the birds hoping someone will show up to shoot, but no one does. Maybe the other tributes are out there beating one another senseless. Which would be fine, Ever since the bloodbath, I've been featured on screens most than I care.

Eventually, I wrap up my food and go back to the stream to replenish my water and gather some. But the heaviness from the morning drapes back over me and even though it's only early evening, I climb a tree and settle in for the night. My brain begins to replay the events from yesterday. I keep seeing Rue speared, my arrow piercing the boy's neck. I don't know why I should even care about the boy.

Then I realize. he was my first kill.

Along with other statistics they report to help people place their bets, every tribute has a list of kills. I guess technically I'd get credited for Glimmer and the girl from District 4, too, for dumping that nest on them. But the boy from District 1 was the first person I knew would die because of my actions. Numerous animals have lost their lives at my hands, but only one human. I hear Gale saying, "How different can it be, really?"

Amazingly similar in the execution. A bow pulled, an arrow shot. Entirely different in the aftermath. I killed a boy whose name I don't even know. Somewhere his family is weeping for him. His friends call for my blood. Maybe he had a girlfriend who really believed he would come back.

But then I think of Rue's still body and I'm able to banish the boy from my mind. At least, for now.

A/N, Happy Hunger Games!


	16. Haymitch

Haymitch- Capital.

I sit watching the girl as she mourns the little girl's death. She's angry, and everyone in the districts knows it's not fair that such a little girl had to die. Reports come in of a revolt in district eleven, and I know I have to do something.

I head to the game makers room, and I ask for Seneca Crane, the head game maker.

"Well, if it isn't Haymitch Abernathy." He says, in a very condescending tone. "Come to make some plea for your tributes life I suppose."

Well, he isn't wrong. "You're going to kill her?"

. "She's starting revolts, killing her will remind them who has the power."

"If you kill her you'll only make a martyr."

"What else can I do?"

"Give them something to root for."

"Like what?"

"Young love. You say the way the audience melted when Peeta said he loved her. Let them all root for the star-crossed lovers of district twelve."

He laughs. "We already have a pair of star-crossed lovers. Have you forgotten about Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta? Besides, they aren't starting revolts, and they're from an inner district."

"She isn't trying to start revolts. How would you feel if you were the one thrown into the arena with your wife and only one of you could win?"

He laughs again. "But, I'm not in the arena, and I never will be. But, maybe I'll let her live a bit longer, give the districts a little more hope before taking it away."

I leave, feeling like I've accomplished nothing.

A/N, short chapter, I know. Hope you liked it. BTW, this story is going to last all the way through Mockingjay, so don't think there won't be any more of Odesta. Plenty is in store for them.

A/N 2, I just realized the basic premises of this story is if Annie didn't go crazy, and everyone knew that Annie and Finnick loved each other.

Please Review!


	17. Katniss' Games Part Two

A/N, Another chapter from Katniss' POV. Enjoy!

Katniss-74th Hunger Games Part Two.

I wake in the morning to a howl. The howl is unlike any I've heard. Close to a wolf with a deep undertone, one I can only describe as disturbing. I look around an arrow in my bow and ready to shoot. I spot a wolf-like creature creeping through the underbrush. It must be a capital mutation, it's much larger than a normal wolf, and it's walk resembles that of a lion, slow and predatory, with broad shoulders and a wide jaw.

I pulled my arrow back, took aim and fired, killing the creature instantly. Good, I think, some more meat. But I don't move. I stay still, watching and waiting. If the game makers make one mutt, they won't hesitate to make another. Sure enough, a pack comes barreling through the woods, and they stop at my tree, their noses twitching. They smell me. Great.

I slowly unstrap myself and gather my things, careful not to make any sudden movements. Once everything is in the pack and on my back, I scan my options. I can't go down; the mutts will surely kill me. I can't go up; the branches will snap.

An idea hits me, it's a long shot, but if I can get on a branch close enough to one from another tree, I can jump from tree to tree, just like Rue did. I look down at the mutts; they are beginning to attempt to climb the tree. I rise to a branch close to another and wait. I can delay them if I wait for them to get in the tree first.

I quickly hop to the next tree branch as they get close. They run at me and try to jump. But their weight snaps the branch, and they fall to the ground one on top of the other.

The one on bottom remains still, but the ones on top get up and shake it off and climb the tree I'm in. I move, trying to find another branch to jump to. I see it and position myself. When the mutts reach me, I drop again, and they jump after me. I make it, but the end of the branch snaps once more, and they go tumbling down, some of them don't survive the fall. I climb higher and position myself to jump once more.

Only three make it to my height, and when I jump they all fall to the ground and don't stand up.

I smile "Thanks, Rue." I speak aloud. Even when she is dead, her cleverness amazes me.

I move to the ground, taking my knife and skinning each mutt, taking the whole day to prepare the meat to be cooked, and using the furs to coat the inside of my sleeping bag for warmth. When night falls I start a fire and cook the meat. This will be plenty enough to last me the rest of the games, but I will find some plants and such to eat, so I'm stronger. I keep the fire burning bright, hoping that Cato and Clove will come, so I can kill them and end these games sooner.

My head snaps as I hear a twig snap behind me. Foxface was attempting to sneak up on me, with the blade from the explosion site in her hand. No doubt she was going to kill me and take my meat.

I grab my bow and shoot an arrow in her back as she turns to run — the cannon sounds. Four others left. I finished cooking and put my fire out. I packed my meat and climbed a tree away from the body. The mockingjays sound the warning whistle and Foxface's body is taken from the arena. Four others left, four tributes dead at my hands, hopefully, the number doesn't double.

I travel throughout the arena, lighting fires and stomping on purpose, better to draw them to me than to have the game makers do it.

The game makers tried to kill me a few days later, a small swarm of Tracker Jackers came after me, angry for whatever reason. I ran through the woods; they were gaining on me fast. A thought strikes me, and I quickly pull my background in front if me a pulling out a match. I grab a leafy branch from nearby. I hit the match and set the branch on fire. I drop the branch and watch it smoke, the Tracker Jackers fly through it and slow, but some of them still fly after me. I grab another branch and another match and repeat the process.

I wander around the arena aimlessly for a few days, surviving on the mutt's meat. I'm strapped in a tree when a cannon jolts me awake. My thoughts run through the tributes that are left. Cato, Clove, Thresh, and Peeta. Perhaps Cato and Clove got into a fight if so, I hope the winner dies from injuries. Maybe they ran into Thresh; he wouldn't have gone without a fight. Hopefully, at least one of the others is fatally injured. The most likely one is Peeta, he has been wounded for a few days now, he probably bled out or died of infection. A part of me hopes it was him; I don't want to be the one to kill him.

I unstrap myself, gather my things and jump from the tree. I head towards the stream to fill my bottle. I add the iodine and wait. My thoughts wander, and I find myself accessing my actions once more. Why do I keep fighting, the game makers want me dead, I know it. I insulted the capital. My only hope is that they don't hurt Prim. Prim. That's why I'm fighting, going home to her. I promised her that I would win, and I am.

Later that day, I hear trumpets. "Ladies and Gentlemen, may I offer you an invitation to a feast in your honors, for making it to the final four. The feast will take place at the cornucopia tomorrow at dawn. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

I immediately start heading towards the cornucopia, more arrows, and a good chance that I can kill the other tributes. As I walk, I form a plan in my head, get to the edge of the clearing, hide in a tree pick as many of the others off from a distance and run in to get my arrows once I'm discovered.

I arrive at the edge of the clearing right before nightfall and climb a tree that gives me a perfect shot of the Cornucopia. I strap myself in and wait. The night falls, and when the anthem plays the face in the sky is Peeta's. When morning comes, I draw my bow and wait, notching an arrow. The table appears from the ground, holding tons of food.

Thresh comes from the fields, running at full speed. I shoot him in the forehead without a second thought, killing instantly. Five tributes dead at my hands, two left. I look around to see if anyone spotted me, it doesn't look like they have.

About ten minutes later Cato comes bolting from the forest. I raise my bow to shoot him, but Clove follows and tackles him. He's caught by surprise, but his muscular build is no match for her small stature, and she ends up in his back instead. He flips her off and throws her to the ground, but she lands on her feet in a crouched position.

I decide to let them fight it out and shoot whoever survives.

Cato-

I stand a few steps away from Clove, me with my sword ready, and her with a knife in her hand. I look at my fellow tribute, her slight build and short stature doesn't matter now as she stands with a look of death on her face. But I look in her eyes, and I see hesitation. We stand there for a moment, neither of us willing to kill the other. We've been through so much in these games.

We split up after Marvel's face appeared in the sky that night. I headed East, and she led West. When the announcement came, I knew we would have to confront one another.

I scan her once more, then look her in her eyes, she's not going to throw the knife until I make a move, I know it. So, I make the decision and lunge for her, sword ready to stab. I'm not going to kill her; she throws a knife aimed for my head. I close my eyes and wait for the blade to hit my skull.

But, it never does. Instead, I feel pain in my left ear. She missed, she never misses her mark. I open my eyes just as my sword misses her, grazing her in the side of the stomach. I look at her face, her eyes are brimmed with tears, and so are mine.

"You-you missed. You never miss" I say, confused.

"I had to, I could never kill you" not after everything, not after the Tracker Jackers.

I know what she's talking about. When we were stung, she was unconscious for days, the entire time she has hallucinations. I was hurt, but my body could take it better, and I never passed out. Instead, I sat and held her as she screamed in her sleep. When she woke, we both cried and hugged for the longest time, until Marvel practically peeled us apart.

I pull my sword closer to me, looking at her.

Suddenly an arrow comes from out of nowhere and hits Clove in the back.

"Clove!" I grab her, pulling her into my lap, dropping my sword.

She smiles "Win, Cato. Go home and tell my sister and my mom that I love them. Tell my dad that I'll see him in hell."

She closes her eyes as she I hold her as she dies, tears streaming down my face. When the cannon sounds, I wipe my tears away, place her gently on the ground and pick up my sword.

"Where are you Girl on Fire?" I shout, my voice is angry and deadly. I look around, by the cornucopia is the boy from eleven's body. He's face down, and I can't tell what caused him to die. She must have done this. But how?

I scan my surroundings once more and spot her stepping out from the tree line, a bow, and arrow in her hands, an arrow pointed straight at me.

If that's her weapon, I'm dead. She got an eleven in training; you have to have to aim just as good as Clove with her knives to get that high a score. Shit. If Clove had lived, she would have stood a chance, with another long distance weapon. But my sword does nothing against her at this distance.

"So, you're going to shoot me? Fine, but I get to say something first." I turn and look up at the sky. "Cleave, your sister loved you, more than she may have let on. In the academy, she talked about you all the time. Ms. Kentwell, she loved you too, you were kind to her after her father's daily rantings about how much she disappointed her. Mr. Kentwell, I hope you rot in hell, you hurt Clove day in and day out, she hated you, she wouldn't say it, lest you make her go into the Hunger Games, but I guess that happened anyway. Mom, Felix. I love you guys, thanks for being there for me. Felix, please don't go into these games, don't be like me. Winning isn't worth the memories. Be a peacekeeper or something like that." I turn back to her. "Go ahead; I'm ready now. Kill me."

Her face contorts in anger, and she lowers her bow slightly. "I can't," she says, obviously hating herself for it. "I won't be a piece in these games anymore."

I'm confused "What do you mean?"

Her face softens, and her bow lowers more. "Look around." She gestures with her bow. "We are all pieces in his games. Nothing more than pawns. We kill for their amusement."

I know who she means, President Snow. "If these games are so horrible, then why did you try so hard to get here?"

Her face twitches, and it looks as if she remembers something. "My sister," she says, barely audible to me. "I want to win for my sister." She says louder. She raises her bow and points it at me.

I tilt my head. "So, you're going to kill me after all?" My voice taunting. "Go ahead; I can't live without her."

I spot a movement in the woods behind her and step closer to her. I detect some eyes, human. No one else is left. I look closer and realize the eyes belong to Clove. I look over; her body is still laying on the ground.

"Duck!" I shout at Katniss, and she does, just in time for me to lunge and kill the mutt. A dog-like creature with Clove's black hair and eyes. Her collar is a sapphire two. I laugh, now, I've killed her too.

Katniss looks at me with wide eyes. "Is that?" her voice is shaky. I nod, knowing what she is thinking.

Then, there is barking from in the woods. We exchange a look and run for the cornucopia. She runs faster than me and climbs faster too. She's at the top before I am, and when I reach the top, she has her bow pointed at me. A blonde mutt jumps up behind me, and she shoots it, without me having to move out of the way. She pulls another arrow out and puts it in her bow.

"10 more," she says quietly, almost to herself. I turn around, the mutt she killed has blonde hair and blue eyes, with a coal heart with a 12 engraved in it. Peeta. I look at her once more, she's realized it by now, and her eyes are brimmed with tears, but her bow is pointed at my chest.

"Go ahead. I'd rather die by arrow than by one of these mutts."

"I can't, not after everything that I just saw, not after what you just did. Not after what I just did to you. You saved me; I can't forget that." I look behind me; the mutts are surrounding the cornucopia.

"Who do you have to pretend I am to kill me?" I ask, in a taunting jeer. "Clove? Or maybe Glimmer."

"No. I couldn't kill either of them."

"Maybe Marvel then? Getting revenge a second time." I say, walking toward her and holding my sword to her chest.

She scoffs. "Killing him didn't bring back Rue. And if you kill me, it won't bring back Clove. Just like if I kill you it won't bring back Peeta."

Just then, a mutt with Blonde hair and blue eyes jumps up, and she jumps out of its way. I tackle it, and we both go toppling over the edge. I'm met at the ground by a fury of teeth and claws. I fight my way through them for a minute before giving up and letting them bite away. All of the pain I've felt comes back, and I let the tears flow. I cry for Clove and Marvel. I weep for Rue and even Katniss. I look up at the cornucopia and see Katniss aiming an arrow down at me. She lets it fly, and I nothing comes after the sting in my chest.

A/N, Is it too obvious to say that I ship Clato? Because I do.


	18. Annie- Victory Tour

A/N: I am so sorry! I completely neglected to finish this chapter. My life is a bit of a mess right now, so update will probably slow down a bit. I'm really sorry. This chapter is from Annie's POV.

Enjoy, and please review.

Annie-

I stood in shock as 12 got another victor. Finnick had a grim expression on his face as she was crowned.

"What's wrong?"

"She has a little sister, and a mother. Snow Isn't going to show them any mercy, not after what she said. Not after what she did."

He's right, Snow isn't one to forgive, and she started a riot in 11 and a riot in 8. He'll probably kill them before her Victory tour. If not before.

~6 Months later~

Katniss is coming today, and the moral around the district is low. They haven't shown us any of the other victory tour speeches on television, so I imagine she said some things that our dear president wouldn't want us to hear. We are busy around the square trying to get everything ready for her speech. When the train arrives Katniss steps out immediately, and Finnick greets her.

"Howdy there, Fire girl." He puts on a big grin and extends his hand.

Katniss just scowls. "Fish boy." She walks past him without another word.

"Well, she isn't in a very good mood." I say, wrapping my hands around Finnicks arm.

"Can you blame her? Her mother is dead, and her little sister mysteriously 'Disappeared.'"

Her mother died in a house fire, and her little sister didn't come home from school that day. Neither did her cousin. There was a big news story about it. I guess Snow wants us to know that he put her in her place, or so she thinks. Without any one to protect, Katniss is more likely to act against the Capitol.

I know that if my life wasn't in the balance Finnick would've done something with all of the secrets he 'collects' instead of keeping them in his back pocket. That's why we haven't been able to watch the other speeches, she must have said some things about the government that Snow didn't like. I wonder why Snow hasn't stopped her victory tour by now.

"True" I shrug and we begin to head to the square, arm in arm.

When we get there the Mayor gives Katniss her intro and she steps forward. A fire burns in her eyes, and when she begins to speak the square falls silent.

"Hello District 4, You all are here to celebrate my winning, when you should be mourning the children you lost. Though they were raised to fight, and to kill, that doesn't make their deaths any easier, and I want to offer my sincerest apologies. I wish I could offer you something to help make up for the loss of your children, even though nothing can compensate for that, but our dear President Snow has refused my inquiry of donating money to you."

She says dear with disgust in her voice, and doesn't try to hide it.

"You are loyal to the capitol, when it treats you so poorly, and to some level I can admire that dedication, but I will never bow to the capitol. Not when it took from me everyone and everything I love. In the other districts I gave a speech convincing them to rise up against the government that holds panem down, but here I don't see the point. If you are going to be loyal to the government, there is nothing I can do to stop you. But be warned, when the revolution comes we shall have no mercy against our oppressors, and anyone who stands with them."

With that she walks back into the Justice Building. Finnick turns to follow her, and I glance over my shoulder to see the crowd giving twelve's salute to her. I smile and follow the two of them.


	19. Quarter Quell Announcement

A/N: Again, sorry for making you guys wait. If anybody is left reading this, thank you, and I hope you enjoy the chapters that follow. This one takes place during the announcement of the third quarter quell, from Finnick's POV.

Finnick-

I sit on our plush couch, a piece of rope in my hands, woven into an intricate knot. My worry takes over on days like this. Days were there's nothing you can do but accept that you have no control over the world around you and that nothing you can do will help. I'm worried about what our tributes will have to face this year, and just who they will be.

The past two quarter quells have done what the Capital promises they will do: show the districts just how vulnerable they are. This year is sure to be no different, considering the uprising in brew because of Katniss.

Annie is sitting beside me, her feet tucked underneath her, and her eyes closed. I look down and admire how beautiful she is, with her vibrant red hair and facial features that make her seem even more innocent than she is. While Annie wakes every morning with nightmares, so do I, she is calm and reasonable during the days, just like before the games. I love her with all of my heart, and can't imagine a life without her. I'd surely be crazy if she weren't here.

We are both parts of the revolution, along with most of the other victors, save for those from one and two. One and Two have always been the most loyal, along with most citizens from Four, but three of the victors from Four, Annie, Mags and me, are devoted to the cause, each of us for separate reasons.

I fight for a free Panem Annie, and I can one day have the life she deserves, the children she wants, without fear of Snow or the government. Annie speaks out because she thinks I deserve to be free from the Capitol's wrath, and children deserve to grow up without the fear of a reaping. Mags helps because her parents failed to fight and she wants to change the world as they hoped to.

I wake Annie up gently "Honey; the announcement is about to start."

Her eyes flutter open, and she smiles at me. At that moment the anthem plays on screen, and we both turn our heads to the screen. President Snow is standing on a pedestal and raises a hand for silence from the roaring crowd beneath him. He starts with an introduction and explains the previous two quarter quells. I'm only paying half attention, my eyes are on the rope in my hands, and my focus is on Annie's soft breathing beside me.

I look up at the screen when he states this year's quell. "As a reminder that even the strongest among you cannot compete with the Capital, this year's tributes will be drawn from the existing pool of Victors."

My breathing hitches, and so does Annie's. We both sit in panic for a minute before Annie sits up, and speaks with a shaky voice. "There's no use worrying about it now. What will happen will happen, no matter what we do."

She sounds like she is trying to convince herself more than she is trying to convince me, but her words comfort me some.

"You're right, but we need to prepare anyway." I take her hand, and we walk to the training center on the other side of the village. Since most of the Victors from four help train students in the training center, they built the facility on the side of Victor's village farthest away from the beach.

We walk most of the way in silence before Annie speaks up. "Finnick, you know if I go back into the arena I won't kill anyone."

I stop and turn to her. "The tributes will be other Victors, and they won't hesitate to kill you."

"I know, but I can't bring myself to kill them. I won't."

The strength in her voice is enough to convince me that there is no changing her mind. "Fine, but you need to be able to protect yourself. You don't have to kill anyone, but I won't let you die."

We walk the rest of the way, and when we get there, the lights are off, and nobody else is there. I head over to the trident station and throw a few, I'm just as good as I was in the games, so I head over to Annie and show her how to use a sword, she's pretty good already, but I plan to perfect her skills in the months before the Games. I'll be there to protect her if she goes in, but if something happens to me, she'll need to fight for herself.

I plan to get us to the final two and kill myself before she can do anything; that way she'll be safe and can go home. I'm not going to tell her this; I have no doubt she has a similar plan in mind, so I'll have to be quick about it.

I push away the thoughts of what Snow could make her do if I die in the arena and she is no longer in a relationship with me. Before Annie won I had to do all kinds of things for Capital citizens, most of which still haunt me in my dreams, but now I can only go to the Capital and spend time with the citizens, because of my very public relationship with Annie. If one of us were to win the games without the other, Snow would surely start that 'deal' again with the survivor.

We train until well after dark, and then we head home and try to get some rest. Neither of us falls asleep, but we don't speak. We lay in the dark and hold each other close and push away the thoughts of what will happen come reaping day.


	20. 75th Reaping Day

A/N: This takes place on the reaping day of the Third Quarter Quell from Annie's POV. Enjoy and review, please. I honestly enjoy it when people tell me what's wrong with my writing. It helps me grow as a writer and as a person.

Annie-

I wake up on the morning of the reaping with tears in my eyes. I no longer wake up screaming, and I don't wake up Finnick. I lay back and wipe the tears from my eyes, gathering myself. My dreams no longer hold memories of the past, but speculations of the future instead.

I groan as I remember what day today is. The reaping day is never a happy occasion, but this year brings an absolute terror. Finnick and I have spent hours everyday training in case we are reaped. That won't make it any easier to be back in the arena, but it gave us something to do in the meantime. I'm nearly perfect with the sword, and Finnick is perfect with his trident. I know if I go into the games, Finnick will follow. He won't hesitate to volunteer if it means I get a better chance in the arena.

Finnick stirs beside me, and I smile as his eyes flutter open. I lean over to kiss him, and it tastes like seawater. I laugh and pull away.

"Good morning beautiful." He smiles, and I stare into his sea blue eyes, him looking back into my green ones. I peck him on the cheek and head to the kitchen to make breakfast. I make a breakfast of pancakes and sausages, both of our favorites. Neither of us eats very much, so I wrap it up and put it in the fridge for later if either of us come back.

We walk down to the town square hand in hand. I take my place beside Mags, who whispers back and forth with me until our escort steps onto the stage.

"Welcome. Welcome. Welcome." I tune her out until she walks to the girl's bowl. I hold my breath, hoping it's not me drawn. "Annie Cresta."

My world spins. I stand there for a second, in shock then Mags begins to step forward. I grab her shoulder. She has no chance of winning if she goes into that arena, so I pull her behind me before she can volunteer.

I smile at her and whisper "I'll be alright."

Then I step forward and stand beside my escort. I look over at Finnick and shake my head; he is already ready to come forward. He looks distraught, but steps back and nods at me, agreeing with me. I sigh in relief, I've saved him, now I can worry about trying to survive the arena once more. But my comfort is short-lived when the escort opens the slip of paper, and I glance over. I gasp as she reads the name aloud.

"Finnick Odair"

Finnick steps forward, even more, upset than before. We're both going in, and there's nothing we can do to stop this. One of us, if not both will be dead in the next month. Our escort tells us to shake hands and Finnick pulls me into a hug instead. I hug him back, holding back the tears I feel stinging behind my eyes.

We break apart and head to the train station. I hold on tight to Finnick's hand, not wanting to let go of him until I have to. Neither of us has any family or friends to visit us, so we board the train immediately.

We sit next to each other on the couch, and Finnick pulls me close. We sit in silence for most of the train ride; Mags seated on the couch across from us. Nobody wants to say aloud what we are all thinking.

I speak first. "What are we going to do?"

Finnick takes a deep breath, a sign he knows I'm not going to like what he has to say. "We are going to go into that arena, and give it our all, then you'll get out of there in one piece."

"No. I won't live without you. I can't. You'll be the one to live."

"Annie, I can't live without you, either."

"Then what should we do?"

"I don't know, but I'm not winning these games a second time."

"Neither am I."

We sit in silence for a minute, thinking. After a few minutes, Finnick sits up and pulls me closer, nuzzling his head into my hair.

He whispers into my hair "let's do everything we can to make sure Katniss wins, then she can free Panem." I nod and snuggle in closer.

We fall asleep like that, and Mags wakes us up when we reach the station. I stretch out, and we walk to the dressing rooms.

My stylist dresses me as a mermaid, with a teal tail the shimmers in the light and a matching top, a net covered in coral seashells is draped around me, and woven through my hair.

Finnick is wearing a net, similar to mine, and nothing else. He looks quite nice, but he gives me a quick hug and walks away, heading for 12's chariot. I follow behind him, but Haymitch grabs my arm as Finnick takes up a conversation with Katniss

"How's it going sweetheart?"

"Aside from being thrown into the arena again, with the love of my life this time, perfect."

He chuckles dryly. "What else can we expect from our dear President?" He says 'dear' with disgust in his voice.

"Better watch your mouth; being drunk isn't an excuse this time."

"The crowd is drowning us out; we'll be fine."

"I suppose."

"So, tell me, what's your strategy going to be?"

"We aren't winning this year; we want Katniss too."

"Well, thanks for taking me into consideration" His voice is joking, with serious undertones.

"Katniss is the best for Panem; we all know the revolution needs her to succeed."

"What if there was a way we could all live?"

"Are you sure you aren't drunk?"

"Seneca Crane, last year's Head Gamemaker, has 'fell ill' and died. Plutarch Heavensbee has taken over his place."

"Heavensbee? Coin's second in command?" Alma Coin is the leader of District Thirteen, and head of the revolution.

"The one and only."

"What's he going to do?"

"Rescue us from the arena, and any allies we have left."

"When?"

"He'll send us bread to tell us."

"Who do we need to get on our side?"

"Three, Johanna, and us. Eleven is going in alone, and Coin doesn't think anyone else is fully supportive."

"So she's going to let them die? Because of a hunch?"

"If they make it that far, she'll do her best to rescue them, but yeah."

"That's awful. Every Victor hates the Capital, and would give their life for the Rebellion."

"That's what she's asking them to do, just before the fighting starts."

"So she's going to give up on them?"

"She doesn't think they are worth the risk."

"I can't believe this."

"It is what it is. Not everyone can survive this war, and the Victors knew what they were signing up for."

"They would be dying if they were a part of the Rebellion or not."

Finnick comes up and wraps an arm around me. We walk to the chariot.

"Do you know?"

I nod, knowing he's talking about the escape plan. We climb up, and the Chariot takes off. Finnick grabs my hand, and we raised laced fingers above our heads, like Peeta and Katniss had done last year. I smile and wave, blowing kisses at the crowd as we pass by. Finnick does the same. The crowd roars our names. The chariot pulls to a stop, and Finnick wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me closer as Snow steps up, looking right at us. He knows I think, but push the thought away as Snow smiles at us. A chill runs up my spine, and Finnick pulls me closer out of instinct.

I turn my attention to Snow as he begins to speak. He gives a speech about the glory of the games and exits with "May the odds be ever in your favor."

The chariot pulls away, and we head to the Tribute's center. When we get there, Finnick hugs me before heading to his room to wash the pounds of makeup off. I do the same. We come back out, dressed in regular clothing from the dressers provided for us.

Our escort seats us for dinner. We eat in silence, me and Finnick seated across from Mags and the Escort. We eat dinner in silence, and then we head to bed. Finnick and I sleep in my room.


	21. Finnick- Training

A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying the story! Please review. The feedback helps me improve my writing and it motivates me to write more. Next chapter the games will start. This chapter is the things that happen in between the reaping and the games. This chapter is from Finnick's POV.

Finnick:

I wake in the morning to Annie sitting on the edge of my bed, staring off into space.

"Are you ok?"

She looks at me and smiles, nodding. Tears stained on her cheeks.

"No, you were crying. What happened?"

"I had a nightmare. I'm fine now." Her voice is still shaky. I move closer to her and pull her against my chest.

"What's wrong?"

She takes a shaky breath. "Coin, she's just going to let the Victors die in the arena. Only us, Katniss, and Haymitch will be rescued." Her voice is quiet, low enough so that the bigs can't pick up her voice.

I press my head into her hair, muffling my voice to the bugs. "I know."

"She isn't going to even try to save them." Her voice is a soft whisper, gentle and cautionary.

"She can't save everyone, and Katniss is the one Panem needs."

"The others don't deserve to die." Her voice is quiet and shaky, but sure at the same time.

"I know, but she can't save everyone. It'll look suspicious if everybody but the careers team up, Snow is smart. He'll probably guess that something is up once we team up with her."

"I can't believe we're going to lose so many friends, and so early into the fight."

"I understand." I press a kiss into her hair. "I love you." I say this in a normal voice, silently telling her that we need to stop talking about these things before the bugs pick up on it

She looks up at me and smiles, her cheeks still stained with tears. "I love you too."

We get ready in silence, getting dressed and eating breakfast quickly. When we head down we are the first to arrive, so I head to the trident station to warm up. Annie heads for the sword station, still shaken from this morning. She doesn't like the idea of killing, but even she can find something calming in slicing through dummies. She never cuts off the heads, it reminds her of Mason too much, but she likes to slice through the torso, and the simulators the Capitol has been buzzing about for this year's training center interested her when she first heard of them.

I look over to see her slicing through dummies, and I begin to throw tridents at targets. We don't speak, there is no need to we both have the same things going through our heads, and we're both doing the same thing, distracting ourselves. The other tributes arrive and we clean up the stations we were at. When everyone is here a brief speech is given, summing up the stations and then we are set free. Katniss heads over to the archery station after a while and I head over to watch her in the simulator.

She is amazing with the bow, better than I am with the trident. She kills all 24 of the 'tributes' and when she is done almost every tribute is standing at the glass watching her. Wiress begins to clap, and Annie smiles.

Annie walks off, the gears in her brain turning. We head over to the edible plants station.

"We should ally ourselves with her. If we can gain her loyalty she will protect us and we can make it to the end, then a Trident can be put in her back, and you'll go home."

She's saying this for the bugs, making it seem like we'll team up with her for a boost, then kill her when it gets down to it. We both know that we'll be taken from the arena before it gets down to that.

"That sounds good to me. We'll have to convince Haymitch to join us, I have a feeling the old drunk will want to stick by her side. Even he doesn't want the young girl to go in there alone, not when so many are after her for putting us here."

The four careers will definitely want to kill her for sending us back her, even they aren't happy about this mess.

Haymitch will be the easy one to convince, it'll be Katniss we will need to convince. From our brief conversation during her Victory tour seems like she doesn't like me.

"You can talk to her, I'll tackle the old drunk."

I'll have the easy task, but Annie is better at talking to people. Katniss is more likely to agree to team with her, rather than me. Katniss seems to have a soft spot for the weak, such as Rue. she was talking with Wiress and Beetee yesterday, that's They are both very important to the revolution. Beetee's inventions and brains will be of much use in the war. Wiress is calm, even in the midst of war, and good at negotiating, as well as technological skills. Coin quite likes Beetee, and he probably knows about the plan already. An alliance of 6 against the four careers. Enobaria, Brutus, Cashmere and Gloss. They'll undoubtedly try to team with Chaff and Cedar. They'd try to team with me and Annie, but they don't trust either of us, we both betrayed the alliance in one way or another to win, and they never approved of our relationship anyway.

The bell tolls, and we head back to our floor. Mags is waiting for us when we get there.

"Any sponsors?"

She nods. The Capitalists love us, they are all over 'the star crossed lovers of district four' as they have deemed us.

"Thank you."

It's not easy for Mags to see us going into the games again. Over the years Mags has been like a mother to both of us, and she would rather die than see us go back, that's why she tried to volunteer for Annie, but Annie wouldn't let her go in, Mags doesn't stand a chance in that arena, not since her stroke. She wouldn't kill anyone either, just like Annie she would rather die than see someone else hurt by her hand.

We eat dinner in silence, the games looming over everyone's head. Annie sits with a thoughtful look on her face, and I can tell she's planning out what she is going to say to Katniss. I decide to ask Haymitch tomorrow. He'll agree, and then it'll be up to Annie to get Katniss on board. When he explained the plan to me Haymitch didn't mention anything about her knowing, or knowing about thirteen for that matter. I'm assuming Coin doesn't want her to know, for one reason or another. Annie can't tell her here in the Capital anyway, the bugs will pick it up and the rebellion will be over before it really begins.

We head to bed, sleeping in the same bed again. I sleep through the night, images of previous games flying through my head, with me at the center. Annie is nowhere to be seen, which makes everything much worse. Katniss is struck down by Snow, and Coin stands by, watching it all. I stand motionless, nothing hitting me. I'm crowned victor and I wake with tears in my eyes. Annie wakes to, she wraps her arms around me, I can tell she had a similar dream. We sit there for a while, then we get ready for the day.

Again we eat breakfast in silence, even our bubbly escort has nothing to say. I can tell she's thinking of how much of a tragedy it is that one, if not both, of us will be dead soon. She is among the few Capital citizens that know how to keep their mouths shut when the time is right.

We head down to the training center later than usual, not wanting to be first again. The others are mostly there, and I head out to find Haymitch after pecking Annie on the cheek.

"What do you want?" He asks as I approach "Fishboy." He adds with a smirk.

"You're picking up on her names now?" I smirk remembering Katniss calling me 'Fishboy' last time we talked.

"Seems like it."

"Have any team mates yet?"

"No. Katniss is being picky, almost every tribute wants her on their side."

"I saw her talking to Beetee and Wiress."

"She wants them but, no offense, they'll be very little use in a battle."

"Annie and I can fight, and Annie was going to talk to her today. We'll help out, but annie refuses to kill."

"She's still sticking with that philosophy?"

"She won one game that way, and if I have my way she'll win another."

"You'll die for her?"

"Of course."

"I'll never understand love."

"One day, if you get sober, someone may love you."

"Trade alcohol for a woman? No way." He chuckles. Then, with a serious look. "I'll have to survive long enough to find love."

I can tell he's not just talking about the games. The war that will surely follow will be dangerous, and if the rebellion fails we will all die, and lives will be lost for nothing. I push the thoughts away.

"So, would you like to team with Annie and me?"

"I would, but it's up to Katniss, she's the first one I got out, and I'll do my best to get her out again."

The weight behind his words hits me. The whole rebellion is sitting on Katniss' shoulders. If she can manage to play things right this could work, but if she decides not to play along the effort will all be in vain. Things are made worse when I realize she doesn't even know about the rebellion. She has to make the right decisions without knowing what the right decisions are. This is too important, and I'm glad I had Annie talk to her, she'll pull this off.

"Annie will talk to her. Katniss will want to get further in the games, and she'll realize we may be her best chance." _I hope_ I add silently.

I look over and see Annie and Katniss talking at the sword station. Annie is showing her how to hold her sword, and they tackle dummies and holograms together. They are getting along well. I head over to the knife station beside theirs and throw, hitting the target fairly well. I keep an eye on them. A lot is resting on annie shoulders right now and it's killing me not to be able to help her. She's perfectly capable of getting Katniss on our side on her own, but I hate the feeling of being useless. Not being able to help, or worse, being told I can't help when something important to me hangs in the balance. I like having things under my control.

They head over to the archery station and Katniss shows annie how to shoot. They are both laughing and smiling as they shoot holograms. The bell tolls and We all head back to ours floors.

"How did it go with Katniss?" I ask, once we are back on our floor.

"It went really well. She agreed to be in our alliance. She mentioned Wiress and Beetee to, if they want to join, and Haymitch has to be with us."

"Haymitch said he would, as long as Katniss is."

"Well. I guess we have our alliance all sorted out."

"Seems like it."

Annie looks away uneasily and crosses her arms against her chest, a clear sign she's uncomfortable.

"Are you ok?"

"I just don't want to go back into an arena, or have to kill anyone."

I wrap an arm around her. "I understand, but we can't get out of this. We just have to deal with the problems we face right now, like surviving."

"We will have to kill to survive."

"That's just the way that it works in the arena."

"It's not how I won the first time."

"You'll win again, no matter what." I put a finger under her chin, and lift her head so her eyes meet mine. "Annie, just remember, no matter what happens in that arena I will always love you."

She smiles "I know."

"Then let's go to dinner. No use worrying about something that's going to happen regardless."

"Yeah."

We walk to the dinner table and eat in silence. After that we head to bed.

The rest of the week goes by as normal as possible. Annie, Katniss and I train together, Haymitch prefering to stand to the side and watch us. On the last day Johanna came over and joined us, and without a word spoken by anyone she became a part of the alliance. Johanna is one of the leading members of the rebellion. She is very adamant about the cause, so it will be good to keep her around for the war. Plus, she throws axes as well as Katniss shoots. Our alliance is deadly, almost on the level of the careers.

They canceled interviews for the year, probably for fear of too many Victors speaking their minds about the Quell, and other things they felt the Capital had done wrong.

I woke up on the morning of the games having had a nightmare, Annie was already awake, and I guessed she had one as well. I sat up beside her and wrapped an arm around her. We sat there for a while, not speaking until Mags came to tell us to get ready.

We boarded a hovercraft and sat in silence. Enobaria was shooting everybody glares, especially Katniss, but Katniss was lost in her own world. Haymitch was sober, and by the looks of it he was actually terrified to go back in the arena. It makes sense, he won during a quell, so he knows better than anyone that quells are more horrific than any other year.

When we landed our stylists led us to seperate rooms to get ready. I didn't want to leave Annie, but I kept telling myself that I would see her again in a few minutes, even though I knew I might not. I got dress in an outfit similar to a wetsuit. _Water, that's good._ I step into the glass tube and it seals around me. I close my eyes as it lifts me up.

The 75th hunger games are starting.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: The games are beginning! There is one part from Finnick's POV at the end. These chapters have been taking more time to write than I would like, but I hope y'all enjoy! Please review! Stay awesome!

Annie:

I look around as my platform rises. Right below me is water, and the cornucopia is on an island in the middle. Outwards behind us is a jungle and there are twelve spokes leading to the middle, spanning to the beach in front of the jungle. Finnick is in the same wedge as me, and we lock eyes for a moment, before the gong rings out and we both dive into the water. We reach our spoke first, Katniss following close behind. I don't know where she learned to swim, but it's good that she can. We run towards the cornucopia, the three of us meeting in the middle. Katniss looks back at Haymitch, who is struggling through the water. I immediately dive in and swim to him.

When I reach him I help him get to the center. Brutus lays on the ground, with three holes in his chest. Finnick must've killed him. I grab a sword from the cornucopia and toss Haymitch a machete. Enobaria comes up from behind me and tackles me to the ground. I scream and try to throw her off of holds on tight and ends up pinning me to the ground.

"Annie!" I hear Finnick shout from the other side of the small island, but before he can get to me Gloss and Cashmere corner him against the cornucopia.

I kick my short, defensive sword to my hand and slash in the air, catching her face and shoulder. Blood streams down on my face and I kick up to get away. I roll over as she panics from the cut. I quickly get to my feet, holding my sword in a defensive stance in front of me. She curses and faces me, blood dripping down her face and arm. I cut down the side of her cheek, and the top of her shoulder. It's not a deep cut, but the placement means it will bleed a lot. The rocks by her feet are slick with blood, and when she lunges at me she slips and I easily sidestep out of her way, tripping her as I do so. She falls onto the ground and I turn and run, not wanting to have to kill her. Finnick has fought past Gloss and cashmere, who ran over to help Enobaria with her wound. Katniss and Haymitch come to us, with Johanna and the pair from three, Wiress and Beetee.

We head to the beach, after taking axes for Johanna, a set of knives to arm ourselves and a wire Beetee insisted on taking. I assumed it is important to the escape plan. We hike into the jungle, Katniss in the back with her bow and Finnick in the front with his trident and a machete. I followed behind him, still a bit shaken from the attack. I had blood splattered all over me, including my face. It's even caked in my hair. It's quite unsettling, but we didn't have the time to stop at the beach and wash it off of me. We'll have to come back to the beach later.

For a while we hike through the jungle, and Haymitch yells something before Finnick can slash through the vines in front of us. He stops and turns around.

"What?"

"There's a force field right there, you would've slashed through it. Can't have our Fish Boy dying just yet."

Finnick grins, a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. He reaches an arm toward me, and both of us are aware of how close to death he just was. Imagine if someone had hit that. The shock would stop their heart, and CPR isn't guaranteed to work. I step closer to him, and he wraps an arm around my side, holding me close to his side. What if he had hit the force field and died? I would've broke. Losing Finnick is like losing my heart. Unimaginable. We stay like that for a minute, all of us gathering our thoughts.

Haymitch breaks the silence. "We need to keep moving."

Finnick nods, and lets go of me before letting Haymitch take the lead, keeping us away from the force field. Katniss eyes Finnick with an emotion I cannot read and he stands in between me and her. I worry that she'll shoot him in the back, but he silently refuses to let me behind him. We walk for the rest of the day, and when night falls we set up camp, with no sign of freshwater.

We set up camp and Finnick offers to take first watch.

"No way, I'll do it." Katniss speaks for the first time since being in the arena.

"I can handle, you need your rest." Finnick counters, absentmindedly grabbing his trident.

"I think the Capitol's favorite Fish Boy needs more beautyrest than I do." Her tone is cold, and untrusting.

"I'll be fine."

I jump in, not liking the direction this is heading. "I'll take first watch."

Katniss offers me a small smile. "Ok."

I smile back and begin to set up my sleeping bag against a tree. I sit on top of it and Finnick sits beside me. Katniss sets up her sleeping bag across from us and Haymitch takes up residence a few feet to the right of her. We settle in as the anthem plays. 6 Victors died in the bloodbath. I shake my head. 6 Victors dead already, and more to come tomorrow. I shake my head and Finnick sighs, settling down beside me. I listen to the soft sound of his breathing as I settle in for the watch.

Not long after Finnick falls asleep Katniss drifts off and Haymitch begins to snore, waking Finnick and Katniss up. Katniss looks quite angry and reaches for her bow.

Finnick stops her, "What are you doing?"

"Firing an arrow beside his ear so he'll quit snoring. He'll lead the careers to us, or mutts."

Finnick looks slightly relieved that she wasn't going to kill him. "Don't you think he'll be mad about that?"

"So? He's keeping me awake and attracting the enemy."

"We can wake him up some other way."

I jump in, before Katniss turns her bow to Finnick. "I'll wake him up myself."

I crawl carefully over to Haymitch and shake his shoulder. He wakes up and swings a knife he had in his hand. I duck, and the knife stabs my shoulder. I wince, eyeing the wound. I place a hand around the knife, stopping the blood flow, as Finnick comes up beside me. He places a hand on each of my shoulders, turning me to face him and kneeling beside me, examining the wound.

Katniss is yelling at Haymitch, and he's holding his hands up, trying to get in a word, to no avail. I turn to them and yell "Be quiet, or the careers will find us."

Katniss stops yelling, but throws Haymitch a glare that makes me glad I got on her good side in the training center. She fishes around in a pack she picked up at the cornucopia and throws Finnick some ointment and bandages. He treats my wound, and I wince, biting my tongue to stop from screaming as he removes the knife and cleans the wound. He winces as well, apologizing the entire time. I tell him several times that it's not his fault I got hurt, and that it doesn't hurt as much as he thinks, but he still feels bad and offers to take the rest of my watch. Katniss doesn't object this time around, instead she tells Haymitch to stay up with him. Haymitch grumbles, but agrees.

I settle in again, nestled up beside Finnick as he strokes my hair. I lay on my side, injured shoulder up, and fall asleep to the sound of Finnick breathing.

A/N: I hope y'all enjoy. A few people are complaining that I'm writing Katniss OOC, and that's entirely on purpose. The Katniss from canon was shaped by her experience in her games, particularly her experiences in the cave, the Katniss in this story was shaped by her experiences in her games, which were different from canon, so the Katniss I'm writing is a different person. If you don't like this, I'm sorry, but it's my story, so I make these decisions.


	23. Chapter 23

Finnick:

I sit beside Annie, stroking her hair as she falls asleep. I keep watch, looking off into the jungle as Haymitch grumbles and Katniss tells him to shut up before going to sleep as well. Haymitch eventually goes to sleep, lying on his side to avoid snoring. Early in the morning a fog rolls in, there's something odd about the way it moves, it's thicker than usual fog, so I get up and walk over to it, reaching my hand out cautiously. It stings when I touch it and I jump back, yelling back behind me and waking Katniss first.

"What?" Katniss is angry that I woke her up a second time that night.

"The fog- it's not natural. It burns when you touch it. We need to get out of here." I explain as fast as I can, running over to where our camp is and waking Annie gently, careful not to touch her shoulder.

Her lips are pale, and so is her skin. She must have lost quite a bit of blood. I help her up. "W-what's going on?" Her words are faint, and it's clear she feels quite a bit worse than she looks.

"We gotta clear out." She nods, and I help her along. She must really be in pain, or she would insist she could walk on her own. Haymitch and Katniss hurriedly gather our things and we ran as fast as we can towards the beach, the fog on our tails. Annie pushed me off after running a few feet, insisting she was ok to run on her own, but I stayed close to her.

As the fog got closer she yelled at me to run faster, and I did, only to ease her mind. I heard her yell something behind me and I turn around and sprint back to her. I'm tackled to the ground before I can reach her and the world goes black as my head hits the ground.

A/N: This one is really short, but I have end of year tests to get through, so I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to write and publish again, so I wanted to be a wonderful person and leave you guys with a cliffhanger. Enjoy! I'll publish as soon as I can, but these tests are kicking my butt.

Please review! I really enjoy the feedback, even the harsher comments help me improve on my writing, so I really appreciate them. Stay awesome!


	24. Chapter 24

Annie:

I run through the jungle, urging Finnick to run ahead of me. He gets ahead of me, still not running his full speed. The fog creeps up behind us and I push myself to run faster, pain shooting through my body as I move my shoulder. From beside me Enobaria comes, her shoulder bandaged even more so than my own, the cut across her cheek makes her look even deadlier.

She's angry with me for injuring her in the bloodbath, and she probably doesn't know the fog is dangerous. She has me pinned, her legs straddling my hip. My injured arm trapped beneath her elbow. I'm screaming, but it takes a moment for this to register in my brain. She's grinning, and the fog is catching up fast.

"The fog!" I gasp, trying to warn her, to get away from it before it can reach us.

She sneers "Afraid of it are you?"

She puts an arms over my throat before I can respond and takes out a knife. But before she can do anything more than wave it in front of my face the fog reaches us and touches her. She screams out, springing off of me in a way only a career can and running down towards the beach. I push myself to my feet and spring, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, and the blisters popping up wherever the fog touches. As I sprint through the jungle I trip over something warm, and turn around, realizing, with horror, I've tripped over Finnick, who's unconscious. I scream loudly for help, and try weakly to move him. The fog is catching up again. Johanna comes from the side of the jungle and grabs him under the armpits. She hauls him away from the fog, urging me to run away. I sprint off, the beach in sight. Katniss and Haymitch are already sitting in the water, Katniss is yelling that the water is safe, motioning frantically for me to come. When she sees that Johanna has Finnick she sprints to help her. I turn to watch them when I reach the water. They get here and I move over to Finnick, bringing his head to my lap and splashing water over his face, my tears dripping down. There is a gash on the side of his forehead. The waves wash over us, stinging but washing away the blisters.

Johanna silently hands me some bandages and I do my best to bandage his head with shaky hands. When the blisters are gone and he's bandaged up Katniss and Johanna bring him to shore. I follow them and we set up camp on the shore, Beetee and Wiress come out of the jungle line. Johanna smirks. I take this to mean they were with her. I lay beside Finnick and all asleep to the sound of his shallow breaths.

A/N: This one is on the short side, but the next chapter is going to be from Johanna's POV. Enjoy, and please review. Stay awesome!


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